Idm#62 preview mag

Issue 62. 2015 AUstrAliA $16.50 New ZeAlANd $17.50 siNGApore $12.95 UsA $21.99

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letter from the editor issue 62, 2015

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Robert Frost once said, “The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” Whilst the American poet might have nourished a particular antipathy for working in a regimented environment, he is by no means alone in the sentiment.

Therein lies the inherent contradiction in the vocational spaces we create—just as some diseases prosper almost exclusively within hospitals, offices are blamed for impeding the productivity of their workers. Consequently, enormous quantities of time, money and mental activity have been expended trying to create working environments that promote productivity, or at least do not hinder it.

In Indesign #62—our workplace focus issue—we take stock of where this has gotten us, and throughout its pages our discussion ranges from what the current schools of thought in office design reflect about larger social and economical issues (Comment, pp.54-55), to critique on what is left once the buzzwords have passed out of fashion (Zone, pp.187-189) and a showcase of six excellently designed workplaces (Portfolio - Commercial, pp.88-140).

Worth noticing throughout these is that whereas the office was until recently a place where the spontaneity and heterogenous nature of its human occupants was to be disciplined and standardised, these same qualities are now valued and encouraged.

This is reassuring, and ultimately just, for too easily the trinkets and trappings of progress drown out its true purpose, and we find the tail wagging the proverbial dog.

LoRenzo LogI – MAnAgIng edIToR ALICe BLACkWood – MeLBouRne edIToR

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left Melbourne Editor,

Alice Blackwood and Managing Editor, Lorenzo Logi

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CONTENTSINDESIGN

AUGUST-NOVEMBER, 2015

ISSUE 62 REGULARS

PORTFOLIO

027 EVOLVE Bite-sized portions from the latest people, places, products, events.

COMMERCIAL

058 INTERFACE + INDESIGN Interface launches its ‘Beautiful Thinking’ campaign with the first of four creative collaborations with young designers.

061 FUSE Stephen Todd speaks with leading light designers on how lighting can contribute to a workplace environment.

073 ALL IN THE FAMILY Born as an immigrant’s dream in 1956, the Fanuli brand is defined by a core set of values passed on from father to sons, and close-knit bonds of kinship.

080 LUMINARY Across 34 years of practice, Peter Stutchbury has artfully demonstrated his own vision of what architecture in Australia can be.

169 PULSE The late German architect Frei Otto was the father of a radical structural approach based on efficiency and natural forms.

Ronan Bouroullec talks on selectivity in collaboration, disguising high tech, and hoping to find his products in flea markets of the future.

The Dutch Muji of design, Scholten & Baijings are a breath of fresh air for the design industry.

090 Transgrid, Sydney, Bates Smart 098 REA, Melbourne, futurespace 110 Karara Capital, Melbourne, Molecule 116 Sound Cloud, Berlin (Germany), Kinzo 126 Interactive, Melbourne, Arnold Lane 134 Corrs Chambers, Brisbane, Bates Smart RETAIL 142 The Woolstores Alexandria, Sydney, Gray Puksand, Woods Bagot and The World is Round CIVIC 148 Te Uru Art Gallery, Auckland (New Zealand), Mitchell & Stout Architects RESIDENTIAL 153 Water Factory House, Melbourne, Andrew Simpson Architect SUSTAINABLE 161 William McCormack Place 2, Cairns, CA Architects and Cox Rayner Architects, QGAO

179 ZONE South America’s gardens are uniquely beautiful, and should serve as inspiration for landscape architecture closer to home.

Many buzzwords of workplace design have been abused. However, promoting interaction, choice and community remain key drivers in creating better offices.

192 PS Google’s new Mountain View headquarters by Bjarke ingels Group with Heatherwick Studio has been designed as a neighbourhood that embeds itself within the site’s surrounding natural environment and local community.

COVER Dutch designers Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings.

Photo: Freudenthal/Verhagen INDESIGNLIVE.COM

The following six workplaces are at once disparate, and bound by a common thread.

Whilst at first glance there is little that links a law firm in Brisbane with a technology company in Berlin, upon delving a little deeper we discover that both seek to address fundamental human desires, such as a sense of community, privacy, comfort, connection to the natural world, and, most importantly, personal choice. What unifies these projects— that goes beyond transient fashions in office design—is the understanding that people share common requirements, and that a truly excellent workspace supports dynamic working environments.

right Responding to the trend towards agile workplaces, Schiavello introduces Kayt Village, an intelligent furniture collection that enables balanced and active environments. “The intelligence behind this collection is that the furniture is designed to perform more than a single function; every piece is multi-purpose; every piece is created to enhance physical and psychological comfort at the workplace,” says Raffaele Tigani, General Manager of Schiavello International.

Supporting various working styles, Kayt Cabana creates areas for communication, Kayt Nook provides places to withdraw for concentrated work and Kayt Hutch can be configured for both meeting and individual working settings.

Gavin Harris, design director of futurespace and designer of REA’s new Melbourne headquarters (pictured above left, full article pp.98-106) says, “Knowledge, collaboration, connection and creativity are the currency at REA Group and the physical space has to support that. Kayt Cabana does just that. It embraces the marketplace feel of the design, can easily move around to support flexibility, and the in-built audio visual technology makes it an incredibly valuable space to work and collaborate.”

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WoRKplACE ISSuE BRouGHT To you By SCHIAVEllo schiavello.com/kayt-village

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hot property As the pAce of digitAl disruption intensifies, reA group hAs boosted Agility And connection opportunities for 600 stAff in their new Melbourne heAdquArters.

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words marg hearn photography nicole england architect futurespace location melBourne | aus proJect rea

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he multinational digital advertising business is the parent company of Australian residential and commercial property websites: realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au. Specialising in property, ASX-listed REA Group is streets ahead of the competition and keen to remain so.

Needing more space for growth, they teamed with interior design and architecture practice, futurespace on the fit-out. The new workplace design set about unshackling REA Group from the constraints of legacy technologies and workspaces and “better supporting their collaborative and agile way of working,” explains Angela Ferguson, futurespace managing director. With construction of the building happening in parallel there was the benefit of tailoring the workplace to REA Group’s needs.

“Blending REA Group’s lean and agile system of working in multi-disciplinary teams—with futurespace’s Activity Based Working (ABW) expertise, produced a very unique workplace—which we’ve christened—Neighbourhood Based Working (NBW),” says Nigel Dalton, REA Group’s chief information officer (CIO).

The “pivotal” role of the workspace and people is immediately observable from the visually unobtrusive reception and reinforces the valued “relationship between the customer and REA,” says Gavin Harris, futurespace design director.

Practice work floors are fashioned as “an ABW environment with neighbourhoods modelled on a classic market town,” he explains. A central main street and marketplace leads to a diverse mix of spaces on each of the four floors. Meeting rooms, casual areas, library alcoves and gathering places are but a few.

Along that journey, Q Chair designed by Harris for the project as a place for reflection and or laptop use, is one of many seating types conducive to different modes of working.

T

On Level 3 a large hub references the concept of a town hall and highlights “the importance placed on making spaces dynamic and able to do many things” says Harris. Case in point is the ability to present to a group from the stadium or in reverse with people seated. Similarly, a screen designed to conceal the café doubles as a projection backdrop. REA Group’s much anticipated quarterly hack days—which harness each staff member’s passion for innovation and creativity— are staged in The Hub or in the ground floor’s dedicated training amenities. These themed forums have resulted in a raft of initiatives, such as a website that unites services for the homeless.

A central staircase invites easy connection over three levels, while smart design generated extra floor area to the side of the stair – on the half landing in between floors. “Each space has a different reason for being to encourage people to move around the floor,” says Harris. “It’s about trying to multiply that random bump-in factor and interaction between neighbourhoods.” That helps to cultivate innovation.

opener Collaborative work

space located off the marketplace with Schiavello kush lounges and the Q lounge from CULT previous Waiting Area, with reception in background. The video wall installation was designed and developed by Downstream—linking REA’s history and forward thinking I to its advertising process below View from the lift lobby toward the reception: the rear wall is open to the larger workspace, connecting the visitor to the greater REA work process—showing transpacey to process. The 3D wall graphic is a stylised Melbourne cityscape

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“That sheer chance of bumping into each other and simple conversation gives REA Group a competitive advantage,” Dalton adds. It’s how a lead on a disruptive technology or development for example, might be passed on, and otherwise not. “Communication is the central currency of our organisation: You have to communicate well to move fast—and innovation today moves fast.”

Aiding that is the thirty or so super-flexible agile walls, designed by Harris in partnership with Schiavello. “The agile walls were a creative solution to the big challenge of facilitating REA’s process of working on walls and collaboration in an open working environment with limited vertical space,” explains Harris.

Their mobile design empowers people to move them to wherever they’re working on projects. Visually planning projects and sharing ideas on the agile walls brings everyone up to speed quickly about “what’s happening, where things are at and who they need to talk to about what,” Ferguson points out.

Another conversation starter is the Innovation Hub—a place where people can consider wondrous past or new technologies on display—and how they might disrupt or potentially be implemented by REA Group. “It’s where the next gen technologies are inspired that will change the nature of property,” asserts Dalton.

Teams do have neighbourhoods but “no staff member owns any real estate in the workplace,” says Ferguson, “people are free to work anywhere.”

Instead, individuals are allocated a locker and “the laptop becomes the freedom machine,” enthuses Dalton. “We need to be relevant in 10 years time and all we know is that we need to be flexible, so nothing is welded down.” The clean desk policy harks back to Dalton’s efficient workplace philosophies—founded in car manufacturing as well as providing an uncluttered and more welcoming environment.

above left The central

marketplace with the connecting stair and lounge pods. The connection of the agile working environment to the market place assists in REA’s ‘just in time’ work process above Multiple work setting along the central market: The Prooff SitTable allows for meetings with groups, the Kayt Cabana from Schiavello provides a private meeting space with insulated acoustics

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level 3 floor plan

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“ Blending REA Group’s lean and agile system of working in multi-disciplinary teams— with futurespace’s ABW expertise, produced a very unique workplace” Nigel DaltoN

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Influencing every decision and driving REA Group’s innovative spirit is the company’s passion for property and purpose, stated on their website as, “empowering people by making property simple, efficient and stress free.” A restrained material palette and domestic details on meeting room doors for example, remind staff that they’re working with properties owned by people. While colour blocking draws on REA’s secondary palette as a device to evoke “different feelings for different areas,” says Harris.

As a global business that also owns and operates Chinese property site myfun.com and European sites casa.it, atHome.lu and immoRegion.fr—REA Group connects Australia, Italy, China and Luxembourg via hi-speed Cisco video that’s integrated into the building structure. Transportable screens are located “in the backyard” (as the village moves further from the marketplace), and fixed screens in meeting rooms, creating an “almost physical” connection quality with remote staff.

The overall solution is the sum of many parts that effectively balances “the need to address people, place and technology with equal importance,” says Ferguson. For REA Group “we’re always looking for new ways to do our core business—to sustain innovation,” says Dalton. However it’s the disruptive technologies that can cause the most worry. “But this interior fit-out architecture helps address that —because we’re talking about those things all of the time.”

Share your thoughts on the REA project at indesignlive.com/rea

Marg Hearn is a Melbourne-based writer on architecture, design and property.

reA Architect Futurespace Builder Buildcorp Interiors Project MAnAger Montlaur engineering ServiceS Medland Metropolis BrAnding Brand Institute totAl Floor AreA 7055 m2 FutureSPAce futurespace.com.au Furniture Task chairs, breakout area, floor seats, cushions, dining tables, coffee tables, Schiavello. Executive chair, task chairs, waiting chair, task stool, lounge, floor lamps, Living Edge. Training, café, meeting room chairs and armchairs, breakout sofas, lounge chairs, high stools, poofs, training room tables, meeting room tables, Cult.

Meeting room chairs, coat stand, Stylecraft.

Tea chairs, Zennith. ‘Vitra’ arm chair, Unifor, Vitra. Parents chair, welcome coffee tables, Jardan. Outdoor chair, Tait. Modular lounge,

coat and umbrella stands, Envoy. Library coffee tables, DesignbyThem First aid bed, All Salon Supplies.

‘Metronaps’ energy pod, Metro Naps.

Rugs, Designer Rugs.

Systems. Laminate throughout: The Laminex Group, Halifax Vogel. Bathroom mirror, Vetro Glass. Blinds throughout: Verosol. Upholstery throughout: Kvadrat Maharam, Woven Image.

lighting Stair landing floor lamp, Euroluce. Pendant floor lamp, Artemide. Library pendant light, ECC. Boardroom luminaire, JSB Lighting.

Fixed & Fitted ‘Chiller’ fridge, Skope Underbench, integration, freestanding ‘Fisher & Paykel’ fridges, integrated microwave, sink, ‘Smeg’ integrated dishwasher, oven, cooktop an range hood, Harvey Norman Commercial.

Hydrotap, Zip. Coffee machine, Nespresso.

Tea point bin, Sulo. Waste bins, Häfele.

Shower and basin mixers, Caroma. Wall hung basin, ‘Mizu’ floor waste, Reece.

Mirror, towel dispenser, soap dispenser, shower curtain, JD Macdonald. Towel rail, door stop, entry door pull handles, joinery handles, Madinoz. Shower cubicle partitions, TPI Commercial Joinery. ‘REAL’ combination locks, Real Locks + Security.

Planters, Koskela. Ground surface indicators, Equibuilt.

FiniSheS Paint throughout: Dulux. Partition plasterboard, CSR Ceilector Ceiling Solutions. Meeting room ceilings: perforated plasterboard, Décor Systems.

Carpet general throughout: Interface. Stone throughout: Alternative Surfaces.

Brickwork throughout: PGH Bricks + Pavers.

‘Accolade’ rubber flooring, Armstrong Commercial. Staircase: perforated mesh, Décor Systems. Pinboard joinery: ‘EcoPanel’, Woven Image. Timber partitions, Austral Plywoods. Glass throughout: Viridian, Smoke Control

For the full directory of supplier contacts, visit indesignlive.com/dissections62

indeSignlive.coM

PreviouS Looking down onto a lounge pod connected to the central stairwel ABove Looking over the central stair, which creates visual connection amongst numerous levels and also provides a meeting location with mid-floor lounge pods

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Sydney Indesign 13-15 August 2015

ISSUE 61. 2015