Woods Bagot's new office in the brutalist-style building on the corner of William and Little Collins streets. Photo: Peter Bennetts
Woods Bagot had been in its Southbank office for 10 years. While the view of the Yarra from the building's domed ceiling was impressive, the office required updating.
"That office was set up in a fairly traditional way, with rows of workstations that weren't designed for an interactive studio environment," says architect Bruno Mendes, Design Principal of Woods Bagot. "We were also keen to cross the river, back to the CBD," he adds, recalling a previous location in architect Harry Seidler's Shell building.
However, finding sufficient space for 170 staff on predominantly one level in a CBD location was always going to be challenging. "We were looking for over 2,000 square metres and on one level if possible," says Mendes, who found an empty tenancy in the brutalist-style building on the corner William and Little Collins streets, originally designed by American architects SOM in the late 1960s.
While not the one level as preferred, Woods Bagot appreciated the generous floor plates nestled into the treetops.
Before preliminary designs were carried out for Woods Bagot's new office fit-out, feedback from the various staff groups (such as design and administration staff) was welcomed. Feedback as to the failings of the previous office was also encouraged. Words generated from these meetings, both positive and negative, included intense, exciting and creative to non-collaborative spaces and insufficient communal areas. So the idea of 'gathering' was formulated early in the design process, with images of the family meal taken from world-renowned chef's book The Family Meal. This book shows chefs sitting around a long trestle-style timber table exchanging ideas. "We spend a considerable amount of time at work, so engaging with staff is paramount," says Mendes. Also on Mendes' mind was the Greek agora, a theatre-style seating arrangement that brings people together.
One of the first changes made to the two floor plates was removing part of the concrete ceiling and linking the two levels (mezzanine and first floor) with a timber and steel 'stage'. Clad in messmate and detailed with black steel, this informal seating, complete with staircase or oversized tiers, functions as a presentation area, a place to eat lunch or an informal meeting area. As pivotal in the design was the need to move people away from being fixated to one workstation. As well as a variety of work areas, including high benches dotted around the office, there are quiet pods located behind glass and steel doors. Staff can also move into one of the meeting areas on the mezzanine, beautifully framed by steel-mesh curtains.
The other important feature in the design is the four-metre-wide corridor on the first floor that meanders from one side of the floor plate to the other. Featuring benches and loose tables and chairs, this corridor ensures a greater degree of connectivity between staff. Large breakout areas from the corridor ensure this area is constantly activated.
Unlike many contemporary offices, where plans and models are fully concealed, the idea for this fit-out was to create a studio environment. As a consequence, models and plans are dotted throughout the office. There's also a separate model-making room to eliminate any noise. "In our previous office, all our information was found only by switching on a computer. Here, it's about seeing the various stages of each project, keeping them updated and tracking their progress," says Mendes.
And while there's a hive of activity on both floors, there's a sense of tranquility and calm in the choice of materials used. Black steel and messmate, combined with concrete, create a perfect backdrop. As with the spaces that 'blur' into each other, the black steel fuses with the timber in the most unexpected ways. The reception area design, for example, features steel that first appears within the concrete floor.
