New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 34/01C | Page 40

Project
ADCO Constructions office
Location:
Melbourne
The reception area is the perfect opportunity
to create a physical or graphic reflection of a firm’s
ethos – one that greets clients, colleagues and
friends alike on their arrival. This was certainly the
case for family construction company ADCO, when
Woods Bagot fitted out the company’s new office.
Woods Bagot designer Brittany Pearce says the
ADCO reception is at the heart of the space and is
the first thing you see when stepping out of the lift.
“The individualistic reception desk and privacy
screen behind are both finished in the same unusual
treatment,” says Pearce.
“Referencing ADCO’s agile, innovative approach
to construction, the design makes a feature of a
classic building material – wood – being consid-
ered afresh through its use in a build format usually
associated with another building material – brick.”
Besides evoking the company’s woodworking
dexterity, the feature wall also performs other
functions, both in terms of providing a statement of
company intent and regarding space allocation.
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Inteior design
Woods Bagot
“Essentially, the meandering wall divides and
organises the office floor – helping to define a
series of open and collaborative workspaces,” says
Pearce. “At the same time, its porous nature allows
sightlines through to the office’s various desking
and meeting spaces – an arrival experience that
comments on the importance ADCO places on
openness and transparency in business.”
And it’s this sense of transparency that informs
much of the light, contemporary fit-out.
To the left and right of the wall are two built
zones with meeting rooms, a large boardroom, a
projector room and a quiet room. The workspaces
are beyond these, by the windows at the outer
edges of the office. The cafe – used by visitors and
staff – is directly behind the wall. This is designed
in similar finishes to the reception, again calling to
mind the nature of ADCO’s business.
“This office is a consolidation for ADCO, the com-
pany having moved from a two-floor location with
enclosed cubicles to this open, light-filled space,”
Previous pages and above:
Built in a porous brickwork
pattern but made from wood,
the reception desk and screen in
ADCO Constructions’ new office
fit-out by architects Woods Bagot
signals a transparent firm that
thinks outside the square.
Facing page, top and lower:
Beyond the central reception wall
there are built forms enclosing
meeting rooms, a conference
room, a projector room and
a quiet space. A white mesh,
drop ceiling screens the newly
exposed and painted services
and delineates some areas.