Workplace
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Maddocks Words — Emily Potter Photography — Peter Clarke
In Melbourne’s Docklands, Bates Smart has designed for legal firm Maddocks a responsive and diverse workplace that balances collegial and commercial life.
Maddocks
Right — A feature staircase spirals between three floors, generating vertical and diagonal sightlines and providing a sense of light and space.
Artichoke
Issue 60
Workplace
The evolution of the corporate workspace continues to head in exciting directions and Bates Smart’s design for the Melbourne offices of legal firm Maddocks is a case in point. A shared commitment to progressive design and flexible thinking seems very much at the heart of the project’s success. In an elevated corner of the new Collins Square Tower Two in Docklands (designed by Hassell), a welcoming, diverse and responsive environment has been created that accommodates both the longstanding and future-focused aspects of the firm. The fitout is semi-integrated, allowing for a custommade space that embeds its key principles into the architecture and maximizes the large floor plan with a host of well-considered internal areas. Maddocks embraced the prospect of re-thinking the ecology of its workplace and participated in a series of top-down consultations throughout the design and installation process, driven by its partners. These consultations elicited the range of work styles, practices and needs of staff, as well as the temporality of these needs: the daily demands on a space are inevitably fluid. In contrast to conventional models of design for legal firms, the private office is not the focal point. Instead, open-plan and activity-based working spaces unfold around necessary points of retreat and privacy. Aesthetic briefing was part of the consultation process, and the result is an engaging blend of materials and tones. Evoking law firms of old, dark wood and leather fabrics offer richer tones but are used sparingly within overall clean surfaces and natural lighting, mixed with warm interior lighting. White panelling runs the length of walls, hiding away utilities and providing ample storage spaces. The firm’s eclectic art collection is on display throughout. Malleability is a signature of this design, and a modular footprint means that internal spaces are flexible and can be responsive to need, shifting from quiet working space to meeting room. Glazed internal windows enable privacy while maintaining translucency and a sense of openness. Partners have embraced this flexible work practice and inhabit the space in similar ways to the junior staff, democratizing patterns of use according to need and the ebb and flow of a working day. An emphasis on connection underscores the fluid metabolism of the space, from the large airy reception area to the expansive city and sea views that make regular appearances across the three floors. No corners are built up, contributing to the visual prominence of the outside. A feature central staircase
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spirals between the three floors, generating vertical and diagonal sightlines and bringing colleagues into ever-shifting proximity. This is a space of professional community. An integrated common library area surrounding the staircase affirms this point. Privacy and connection are again brought together by a series of high-backed reading booths, which accommodate periods of solitude. Maddocks’s clients are also welcome to use this space, again challenging old, more formal and hierarchical workplace zoning. An in-house cafe, complete with a small commercial kitchen to service Maddocks’s regular functions, provides a further informal gathering point for staff and clients. A committee of Maddocks employees manages the cafe and all profits go to charity. Beyond this is the gem of the project – an extension of the cafe into a “winter garden,” twenty-five floors above ground. This impressive and inviting double-height void was one of the biggest challenges for Bates Smart: precise sun and wind studies were crucial to adequately protect this outside retreat and balance its purpose with safety and comfort. The space is not hermetically sealed but rather opens to the light, air and views of the world around. The sounds of the city permeate, not intrusively, but experientially, and for all involved this was something to bring in rather than suppress. The result is an environment that is continuous with the principles of the interior design but also productively shifts away from the internal – literally through a transitional airlock space – offering a real point of relaxation and breakout in a working day. Timber ceilings and floors, large custom-made tables on the deck (one of several custom-made elements in the overall design, including doorhandles) and striking landscaped greenery contribute to a feeling of retreat that bridges discrete zones of inside and outside. This liminality is unusual in the corporate space, but it is in these unprogrammed in-between spaces that innovations brew and inspiration arises. Unsurprisingly, this space is well used by everyone, from single workers to partner–client meetings and all staff functions. Bates Smart’s innovative fitout for Maddocks has pushed literal and conceptual boundaries for an established workplace that is open to, and embracing of, change and the possibilities that space and its design can bring to collegial and commercial life. In the words of one senior staff member, “The finished product is better than we could have imagined,” and it is the collaborative imagination, right from the beginning of this project, that has ensured this achievement. a
Maddocks
Above — Stone, walnut and sumptuous fabrics add to the space’s understated elegance and contribute to a consistent design language across the three floors.
Above — Light-coloured materials were intentionally selected to overcome potentially dark pockets within the deep floor plate. Artwork: Tom McMonagle.
Artichoke
Issue 60
Workplace
“Timber ceilings and floors … and striking landscaped greenery contribute to the feeling of retreat that bridges discrete zones of inside and outside. This liminality is unusual in the corporate space, but it is in these unprogrammed inbetween spaces that innovations brew and inspiration arises.”
Right — An in-house cafe, which extends out to a “winter garden,” is a place for staff to socialize, collaborate or reflect.
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Maddocks
Artichoke
Issue 60
Workplace
Project — Maddocks Level 25, Collins Square 727 Collins Street Melbourne Vic 3008 +61 3 9258 3555 info@maddocks.com.au maddocks.com.au Design practice — Bates Smart 1 Nicholson Street Melbourne Vic 3000 +61 3 8664 6200 enquiries@bates smart.com batessmart.com Project team — Jeffery Copolov, Grant Filipoff, Rachael McCarthy, Rob Compagnino, Elisa Varela, Lai Yee Chan Time schedule — Design, documentation: 8 months Construction: 6 months Builder — Buildcorp Interiors Engineer and ESD — Norman Disney & Young Project manager — Montlaur Lighting — NDY Light Landscaping — Green Event Products — Walls and ceilings: Eveneer feature wall panelling in “Even Walnut” from Elton Group. Tek-Wall fabricwrapped panelling and wallpaper in “Colour 015” from Maharam. Husk fabric-wrapped panelling in “Marble” from Warwick. Roman Travertine stone wall lining in “Selene Light” from Signorino. Dulux Wash and Wear paint in “Beige Royal.” Bristol wall paint in “Satellite.” Rivuletta fluted-glass-glazed walls from Schott Glass. VLAM Hush glazing from Viridian Glass. Audigroove acoustic ceiling from Atkar. TrendPlank
cladding in “Pacific Teak” from Mortlock. Windows: Vertilux panel glide system in “Mercury” from Warwick. Doors: Door finished in Eveneer panelling in “Even Walnut” from Elton Group with custom door handles. Flooring: Roman Travertine stone flooring in “Selene Light” from Signorino. Inset rugs and custom broadloom, Epoca Knit carpet in “Army Green” to atrium base, and Broadloom to interconnecting stair, all from RC&D. Ultraplank timber flooring and decking in “Pacific Teak” from Mortlock. Lighting: Panos downlights from Zumtobel. Lucciola pendant from Vistosi. Spy spotlight from Deltalight. U Light pendant from Toss-B. Chamber pendant from Lee Broom. Plane Soft pendant from XAL. Lun Up uplight from iGuzzini. Roy Tavolo table lamp from Viabizzuno. Laguna table lamp from Artemide. Tab T table lamp from Flos. Furniture: Herman Miller Eames meeting table, Softpad chair and Ipanema lounge chair from Living Edge. Grace dining chair from Poliform. Sola meeting chair and ON task chair from Wilkhahn. Poltrona Frau JohnJohn sofa and Nivola armchair from Cult. B&B Italia Husk armchair, Mart 2012 armchair and Moooi Container table, all from Space. Eloro sofa from Cassina. Vitra Softshell chair and HAL chair from Unifor. Lowe Atticus meeting table from Hub. Iko coffee table from Jardan. Stork table and custom-designed workstations from Aspect Furniture. Other: Artwork curated by Doug Hall.
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Utility Collaboration booths 3 Library 4 Void 5 Business lounge 6 Lockers 7 Barista bar 8 Staff hub 9 Terrace
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Maddocks level 24 floor plan 1:500
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Maddocks
Above — The spaces surrounding the dramatic staircase provide opportunities for clients and staff to meet, challenging formal, hierarchical workplace zoning.
Above — A highly transparent approach encourages collaboration; open spaces are prioritized and views and quality of light are shared by all.
Artichoke
Issue 60