Architects: Fitzpatrick + Partners,
Clive Wilkinson Architects and
Woods Bagot
Location: Shelly St, Kings St Wharf,
Sydney
Project Description:
A visually striking office building
which wholly supports this financial
institution’s move to an Activity Based
Workplace.
Completed:
2009
Time to Complete:
x years
Contract Sum:
$x million
Total Area:
35 000 m2
Cost/m2:
$x
staff/m2:
1/ 10m2
Procurement Method:
One Shelley St, Macquarie Group
Exemplar Qualities:
• The innovative external structural system
eliminates the need for perimeter
columns, allowing greater flexibility to
the interior floor space, and creating a
visually striking facade.
• The central atrium, vertical stairs and
suspended meeting pods create a
highly visible image of the company
‘at work’ and encourages interaction
amongst staff.
• Staff are encouraged to adopt an active
approach to movement through the
building through the use of highly visible
and accessible stairs.
• The design of the building has
successfully facilitated the company’s
move to an activity based workplace,
with 77% of employees in favour of the
new arrangement.
Context:
Prior to building, Macquarie Group
undertook a study with Dutch consultant
Veldhoen & Co. to better understand the
relationships between green buildings,
indoor environmental quality, occupation
perception and satisfaction and productivity.
Brief:
Macquarie had four guiding principles
which were embedded in the design, they
are ‘technology that follows people’, ‘a
healthy building’, ‘slinky space’ and ‘the
meeting tree’. The meeting tree was to be
emblematic of the interconnectedness of
Macquarie’s client relationships.
Objectives:
• To create an inspiring work environment.
• To use space to encourage
collaboration, interaction and
innovation.
• That the new environment would be
devoid of enclosed offices and the
whole organisation would adopt activity
based working practices.
• To increase spontaneous interactions
and collaboration opportunities.
• To increase the flow of people around
the building, in particular through use of
stairs rather than lifts.
cantilevered meeting rooms or ‘pods’
representing the branches and foliage. This
design works in two ways; to increase the
sense of community, and to put on display
Macquarie ‘at work’.
Themed piazzas inspired by domestic
environments such as ‘the library’, ‘the
playroom’, ‘the garden’ and ‘the kitchen
table’, are also distributed throughout the
building and are available for any staff
member to work in.
Outcomes:
The building is eleven storeys with one
level of retail space on the ground floor. It
is split into two elements; an eastern tower
comprises ten levels and the western tower
six. Bridges link the two towers across the
atrium.
In keeping with the objective for a wholly
activity based workplace, employees are
completely mobile, and can occupy a variety
of types of workstations depending on the
activity they are doing at the time. Of the
approximate 3 300 staff, nearly 55% will
change their workplaces every day.
The exterior of the building has an
exoskeleton formed from a white steel
lattice structural cage, which acts to transfer
loads to perimeter foundations. This
permits natural light to enter the building
unencumbered by internal columns, and
frees lift and stair cores from a traditional
bracing role, to be utilised with greater
flexibility.
The ‘follow me’ approach to technology
allows for phone calls to be directed to
wherever a person is located, and for ‘pull
printing’, that is technology linked to a
person, not their desk or location.
A ten storey high central atrium creates an
internal street which stretches the length of
the building. A central staircase sits in the
centre of the atrium, connecting all floors and
acting to promote a ‘vertical community’.
The ‘meeting tree’ was created in the main
atrium, with the staircase representing
the trunk and the various bridges and
The building received a six-star Green Star
rating. It was also awarded two innovation
points; it was the first building in Australia to
utilise 100% NLA with passive chilled beams,
harbour heat rejection and zone controlled
lighting.
Macquarie’s energy consumption in this
building has been reduced by 50%. The
highly prominent internal staircases have
reduced the use of elevators by 50%. There
has been a 78% reduction in paper storage
needs, and a 53% reduction in printing
paper.
1 Bligh Street
Architects: Architectus and
Ingenhoven Architects
Location: Sydney
Client: Dexus Property Group and
Cbus Property
Project Description:
Multiple award winning commercial
tower, in the centre of Sydney’s
CBD, with a number of innovative
sustainability features.
Completed:
July 2011
Time to Complete:
3 years
Project Sum:
$270 million
Total Area:
42 700 m2
Cost/m2 :
$6,300 m2
staff/m2:
x m2
Procurement Method: Design
competition before traditional contract
Exemplar Qualities:
• Innovative utilisation of full height
glazed atrium, which floods all levels
with natural light; and through a
sophisticated ventilation system also
permits natural breezes to permeate
through the building.
• A thorough and integrated approach
to sustainability, contributing to the
building’s 6 Star Green Star rating.
• The floor plates are designed to
maximise available workspace and
provide access to views for the majority
of employees.
• The building responds positively to
it’s urban context, it’s form aligns with
the city grid, and the reduced building
footprint creates a new north facing
public space.
Context:
Architectus in association with Ingenhoven
Architects from Germany, won the DEXUS /
City of Sydney design competition.
Brief:
The architects had four tenets during
development of the project; these were to
maximise views, create public space, and
focus on creating a quality work environment
and green building.
The work environment was designed around
the principles of ESD, flexibility, efficiency,
communication and transparency.
Outcomes:
The elliptical building is a north facing, 28
level office tower, with a central full height
(130 metres high) glazed atrium. The atrium
provides natural light and ventilation to every
floor in the tower. The building’s amenities
include a cafe, child care crèche, shower
facilities, bicycle racks, and parking for 92
cars. There is a rooftop garden terrace on
level 28, available for use by the tenants.
The ground floor crèche is tucked under
the lobby and is defined by a tall stainless
steel veil which provides sun shading and
privacy for the children’s play area. It is
one of the first impressions for visitors
given this prominent location on the public
ground floor. The steel mesh curtain is
already provoking a delightful response
with pedestrians frequently walking up and
touching the material.
The new public space created features a
broad staircase that leads up to the main
entry and a garden cafe. These have
become a regular resting place for city
workers and receive low winter sunlight
and summer shade. The cafe features a
28 metre long, drip fed vertical garden with
11,000 native and exotic plants.
Floor plates embrace the notion of ‘work
pods’ and meeting areas are located around
the atrium’s perimeter to encourage informal
staff meetings, study and recreation. Each
floor is column free to maximise workspace
areas, and 40% of office space is located
within 5m of the facade.
Four high speed lifts located in the atrium
were designed to implement new workplace
connections across vertical levels.
The roof terrace is enclosed by a parapet
screen and is free of mechanical servicing;
encouraging it’s use as a break out or event
space.
Legal practice Clayton Utz are the current
primary tenants, and architecture firm Bates
Smart designed the fit out for their premises.
This includes a feature steel staircase at
the buildings mid height. The stairs were
designed to echo the elliptical floor-plan and
provide a key staff circulation link. Legal
floors are ringed with transparent perimeter
offices, enabling natural light to permeate
and provide views out.
The building is wrapped in a double skin
glass facade which provides efficient solar
control, whilst maintaining views. Tenants
have been quoted to say that ‘when working
they feel like they are outside’.
It was the first tower to win the Best Tall
Building Award in Asia and Australasia by the
Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat,
though at 28 levels high, it is not as high as
neighbouring inner city skyscrapers.
The building achieves 92% efficiency Nett
Lettable Area to Floor Space Area.
Sustainability:
The central atrium is naturally ventilated
and provides fresh air to every level of the
building. The double skin glass facade is
highly energy efficient, with an inner skin
of performance glass and an outer skin of
clear glass separated by an 0.9m naturally
ventilated accessible cavity. 18,000 blinds
operate on a computer generated system
and rise and fall in response to solar loading.
This approach has resulted in a reduction
of air-conditioning usage and energy
consumption.
The garden terrace abuts an array of solar
collectors, which utilise solar power to
create energy through steam to provide cost
effective heating in areas such as the foyers
sub-floor.
Construction material usage involved more
than 50% of recycled steel content and the
re-use of 94% of construction waste. The
building uses a hybrid tri-generation gasfired power plant, absorption chillers, solar
cooling, and tempered interiors. A black
water recycling system has been utilised
which reduces water consumption and
provides clean, recycled water for washroom
flushing systems and to irrigate the feature
9.7m high green wall. Recycled rain water
is also used to irrigate decorative plantings
spread throughout the building.
NSW Police Headquarters
Architects: Bates Smart Architects
Location: Parramatta, Sydney
Client: NSW State Government
Project Description:
Efficiently planned office building
featuring a ‘central police boulevard’ for
increased interaction and collaboration.
Completed:
2003
Time to Complete:
x years
Project Sum:
$x million
Total Area:
33 000 m2
Cost/m2 :
$x
staff/m2:
1/ 15 m2
Procurement Method:
Design, Construct, Own and Operate
Exemplar Qualities:
• Commendable use of the ‘police
boulevard’ which acts as a central
street, linking communal and workplace
areas and providing opportunities for
people to meet in a variety of ways.
• The inclusion of a number of quiet
spaces for staff reflection and
recuperation, important to staff working
long hours and experiencing stressful
situations.
• Significant space and cost savings were
achieved through efficient planning,
without diminishing the variety and
quality of spaces available to staff.
Context:
In NSW the State Government introduced
new policy aimed to increase the role
and significance of regional city centres
within the Sydney metropolitan area.
Public transport infrastructure was to be
upgraded and government departments
strategically located. The move of the Police
Headquarters was in response to this new
policy and was the largest decentralisation of
public servants out of the CBD of Sydney.
Brief:
The brief called for the consolidation of 2 200
staff from three separate buildings into one
central headquarters. It was to deliver both
Police functional and corporate objectives.
The brief also called for an efficient office
building, with the dignity of a State office
building, the budget of an A grade non
CBD office, and the humanity of a new
headquarters where staff might be at work at
all hours. Additionally the brief required the
building to achieve 4.5 star SEDA rating.
spaces, fitness facilities, prayer room,
change areas and child care facilities.
Outcomes:
The site is located 400m from the nearest
train station, and in the south-east quadrant
of the Parramatta CBD.
The mezzanine level offers an array of
function spaces for conferences, seminars
and training. It has been designed for
flexibility and most spaces can reconfigure
the size of room and types of furniture
required for varying uses.
The building comprises two towers, one nine
and the other thirteen storeys, set upon a
two storey podium. Each tower is connected
via an interconnecting walkway.
The two towers of differing heights
responded to the slope of the site and
height limits while allowing the sensible
arrangement of different Police Departments
within the building.
The new offices were arranged in highly
efficient ‘neighbourhoods’ of 416 sqm
at each level of the towers. The new
‘neighbourhoods’ contained the essential
components for a team to work effectively
together. These neighbourhoods were
‘stripped’ back to be highly work focused. To
compensate additional communal facilities
were added to the ground floor with an aim
to encourage interaction across teams and
create a sense of common purpose.
This rationalisation and centralisation of key
spaces resulted in significant space and
rental savings for the department.
The central boulevard at the ground floor
features formal and informal meeting areas,
a coffee lounge, a commercial cafe, gardens
with covered outdoor areas, exhibition
Materiality:
Warm natural materials timber and travertine,
have been used for the foyer and social
spaces. Large steel columns have been
detailed to add a stately strength to the foyer
space also. Use of robust low maintenance
materials has been maximised.
Landscape:
A variety of outdoor spaces have been
provided. Alongside the foyer is a
subtropical garden, and two outdoor seating
areas are located adjacent to the cafeteria
and lounge. A central, formal courtyard
connects the two spaces between the tower
structures and incorporates a memorial for
officers killed in the line of duty. A linear
western courtyard provides a series of more
intimate spaces with dense understorey
planting.
Orientation:
The building is oriented primarily north
and east. The floor plates of the towers
are mostly unencumbered, maximising
the reach of natural light to all areas. The
facades incorporate horizontal sunshades
to minimise heat gain and reduce glare.
The shades also act as light shelves to
project natural light onto the office ceilings.
Courtyard glazing is shaded by the building
form.
Sustainability:
The architects undertook a number of energy
efficient measures to reach the prescribed
4.5 star SEDA rating. Tinted performance
double glazing was utilised, and perimeter
lights put on their own separate circuit
connected to a light sensor which
automatically turned off when sufficient
ambient light is reached. The podium uses a
mixed mode ventilation system, including the
use of BMS controlled glass louvres. Double
and triple height spaces assist to purge
internal heat loads by natural convection
cooling. Off form concrete columns and
travertine floors provide thermal mass which
assists the thermal conditioning of the
interior.
The central boulevard has encouraged
mobility and flexibility amongst staff. There
are increased opportunities for interaction
and meetings of varying formality. The
provision of garden, fitness, child care and
prayer rooms assists in reducing stress
levels of workers.
The more open workplace, with the
elimination of enclosed offices, has resulted
in an increased sense of transparency
also, particularly important in the police
department.
Architects: ORMS Architecture
Location: Nottingham, UK
Client: Capital One Financial
Services
Project Description:
A highly flexible office space that can
easily accommodate change
Completed:
2002
Time to Complete:
3 years
Contract Sum:
$x million
Total Area:
x m2
Cost/m2:
$x
Procurement Method:
ORMS were appointed from an
interview and competitive design bid
Loxley House
Exemplar Qualities:
• The design affords clear legibility, with
primary connection routes evident
through the central atrium, and
secondary routes consistently located in
the same place in surrounding blocks.
• The building fully meets it’s objective to
provide a flexible workplace which can
easily adapt to business’s changing
needs.
• The central atrium facilitates the
business objective to create a more
social and community-like workplace,
where casual interactions and
communication can take place.
Context:
Capital One Financial Services were
originally based in Trent House, the site
adjacent to the Loxley House construction
site. The Loxley House development was
part of a whole Capital One masterplanning
exercise, with future development to the
East of the site considered also. The site is
located opposite a large railway station and
adjacent to a canal.
As a company that regularly reconfigures
its organisation, Capital One required a
flexible office environment that could easily
accommodate future change.
Brief:
Capital One wanted its new building to
maximise site value, allow for low running
costs, demonstrate good value overall, and
facilitate an easy exit should their business
requirements change.
There were a few key site issues requiring
consideration including potential diesel fume
contamination from the adjacent railway
infrastructure, and potential risks of flooding
and contamination from the canal.
Capital One staff were consulted during the
briefing process in relation to their needs and
requirements and the building fit out.
Outcomes:
The building is comprised of four separate
‘blocks’ which are based around one central
foyer and atrium. Primary circulation routes
run through the atrium, and secondary
routes are consistently located through
the centre of all four blocks for ease of
navigation.
This arrangement was determined to offer a
high degree of flexibility; if the need should
arise for each block to be let separately, the
management of the other blocks would not
be affected. Complementing this approach
each block has been assigned its own core,
air handling plant and light switching system.
The flexibility of the building’s design was
demonstrated before completion; the
architects were only informed of the specific
details of seating plans two weeks prior to
the tenants moving in.
The large central atrium creates a sense
of transparency; from the atrium and foyer
views can be seen through the glazed
lift to the adjacent canal and the city of
Nottingham beyond.
The atrium also contains a cafe and casual
meeting spaces, encouraging a sense of
community amongst the staff that Capital
One were seeking in the design.
The ground level floorplate has been
reduced in size and provides a double
height void space on the edge of the block
with views to the canal. This also creates a
stepped sectional arrangement for people on
higher floors looking down. The mezzanine
configuration reduces the atrium’s central
space, creating a more intimate, communal
space. The move also creates a balcony
on the first floor overlooking the atrium
which can be used for separate events
or functions. The volume of the atrium is
modulated by the suspension of meeting
rooms from large steel portals which support
the atrium roof.
The office floors have taller than average
sectional heights which contribute to the
building’s expansive character.
The building is connected to the adjacent
Trent House by a semi-permanent bridge.
Materiality:
The entrance lobby is a calm transitional
space that uses a simple palette of
materials, including a granite floor which
continues into the building from the exterior
entrance steps. Emerging from this covered
space into the atrium is designed to be a
dramatic transition which is softened by
maple-veneered louvres on the atrium roof,
and the modulation of the atrium’s volume by
the suspended meeting rooms.
Sustainability:
The building is fully curtain-walled, and clad
in unitised glazing panels. The building
employs mixed mode heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning system, utilising low
energy air displacement cooling.