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Unilever Haus Roslyn Street Studio Skin Temple Mud Australia Midland Atelier LAb[au] issue 45. 2011 AUstralia $16.50 New Zealand $17.50 SinGapore $12.95 Hong Kong $155 USA $21.99

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welcomeindesign

letter from the editor issue 45, 2011

As you all know, Indesign has recently celebrated its tenth birthday. I have been Editor since issue #10 and, looking back over that time, the changes have been remarkable.

When it was launched, Indesign aimed to provide a mix of editorial on architecture and design. But it had a special mission to give serious coverage to commercial interiors and hospitality. No one had done this before and for a lot of those ten years, part of the battle was to persuade people that commercial interiors were worthy of serious discussion.

When you think about it, this is an odd prejudice since a large part of the population spend a significant part of their lives working in commercial interiors. You would think that this alone demanded a fair bit of thought – about the workplace, and its role in creativity, productivity and worker well-being.

As it happens, Indesign’s life span has coincided with a decade of amazing innovation in the Australian workplace – so amazing that Australia is up there with world’s best practice, if not leading the way in some respects. Since BVN’s make-over of the MLC building in North Sydney in 2000 and the introduction of the ‘campus’ model, we have seen a succession of major projects which have re-thought the way we work and the way we inhabit the city.

New projects keep rolling out, exploring new ways of working and questioning the relationship of work and life, and the role of the contemporary city. In other words, we are no longer just dealing with some cool chairs, pretty fabrics and sexy break-out areas. Instead, work environments are increasingly customised and thought out as integrated solutions to the challenge of a global economy where competitive advantage is directly linked to creativity, innovation and worker satisfaction. Likewise, they are increasingly preoccupied with sustainability – both environmental and social – rejecting the once prevalent idea of the throwaway society, including throwaway workers.

If you have been buying Indesign since the beginning, you will have the whole history of this tectonic shift on your bookshelf, because Indesign has comprehensively covered the story right from the start with MLC. And, you will notice how the way in which we have covered the story has changed, reflecting the growing sophistication of the workplace and the way it is approached by architects, designers and suppliers – not to mention the commissioning clients, developers and project managers who have facilitated the new working world.

It is really the story of how we work. And, just as employers and designers are constantly exploring new ways of working, Indesign is constantly exploring new ways of telling the story.

So, stick around for the next 45 issues of Indesign. paul mcgillick – editor

PS. Behind every editor there is a great Deputy Editor. Please welcome mine, Mandi Keighran. indesignlive.com

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contentindesign

jun–aug, 2011

Issue 45 regulars

portfolio

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

COMMERCIAL

058 INDESIGN LUMINARY The work of contemporary jeweller and designer Johannes Kuhnen has had considerable influence on craft-based design in Australia 068 ART Belgian art collective LAb[au] explores new spaces in the information age 199 PULSE Chris Rak contemplates the process involved in his sculptural work French botanist Patrick Blanc on his proposed vertical garden at One Central Park German designer Martin Ballendat talks about the office of the future 207 ZONE Philip Drew asks whether the Dr Chau Chak Wing building at UTS by Frank Gehry is destined to be an icon or a folly Paul McGillick uses Spinnerei in Germany to discusses the importance of creative industries

074 Telecom Place, Auckland, by Architectus (base building), Warren and Mahoney in association with Geyer (interiors) 088 Host, Sydney, by who|design 096 Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore, by Woodhead 104 John Holland, Sydney, by Futurespace 110 Unilever Haus, Hamburg, by Behnisch Architekten 118 Energex, Brisbane, by Cox Rayner, BVN Architecture 130 Intercontinental Hotels Group, Singapore, by K2LD Architects Hospitality 140 The Argyle, Sydney, by Luchetti Krelle 146 Avido, Sydney, by Matt Woods Retail

217 SUSTAIN Andrea Stevens looks at the cultural, social and environmental sustainability of the Ironbank building in Auckland

150 Skin Temple, Melbourne, by Anna Drummond Design

224 PS A creative pop-up store in Melbourne by Edwards Moore

160 Mud Australia, Melbourne, by Universal Design Studio

156 Dinosaur Designs, Strand Arcade, Sydney, by Burley Katon Halliday

Education 164 Josephite Learning Centre, Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Tasmania, by K2LD Architects Civic 170 Albany Lakes Art Bridge, Auckland, by Caroline Robinson in collaboration with Beca Infrastructure 174 Kingston Library, Canberra, by BVN Architecture 178 Midland Atelier, Perth, by Palassis Architects, Philip McAllister Studio 184 Roslyn Street Studio, Sydney, by Durbach Block Jaggers Residential 192 La Trobe Street Apartment, Melbourne, by ITN Architects

Cover A close-up of the façade of the Rosyln Street Studio by Durbach Block Jaggers (see pp.184–189) Photo: Anthony Browell

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people places PRODUCTS events

alternative light Go alternative with these ‘Wall Piercing’ ring lights, designed by Ron Gilad for the recently launched soft-architecture collection

by Flos Architectural. This aptly-named new collection is soft on the environment and softly blends traditionally disparate interior elements, while allowing for custom design solutions. The collection makes use of a special composite material called Under-Cover technology, for which Flos holds an exclusive license for lighting.

Under-Cover technology makes it possible to fully integrate lighting elements into plasterboard walls and ceilings, and the light, durable material is key to the soft-architecture philosophy of ‘respecting nature and its balance, understanding its value and being inspired by its perfection’. To this end, soft-architecture products have Cradleto-Cradle certification and are available in a range of energy saving options. The soft-architecture collection is available in Australia from Euroluce. [Text: Mandi Keighran] Flos Soft Architecture soft-architecture.com Euroluce (61 2) 9380 6222 euroluce.com.au

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Sit down, relax Think about this for a second – how much time do you spend in the bathroom on personal grooming? And don’t you wish that you could sit down? It’s a question asked by many and answered by Kaldewei. Their ‘Relax Lounger’ bathtub accessory turns your bathtub into a surface you can lie, sit and lounge on. Launched in 2009, the ‘Relax Lounger’ has recently won an iF product design award for good design. The three hand-sewn water repellent elements form a seat, and can be installed as a single element to rest books, magazines, or a drink on for a pampered bathing experience.

Available in Australia from Bathe. [Text: LC]

an unusual quality In 2009, German textile designer Elisa Strozyk investigated methods that would give wood the same quality as fabric with her ‘Wooden Textiles’ project. She combined the familiar tactile surface of wood with the unexpected malleable qualities of fabric, making wood behave like a textile. Recently, Strozyk took these ideas and collaborated with artist Sebastian Neeb to create the ‘Accordion Cabinet’. The external casing of the cabinet opens and closes in a movement similar to that of an accordion. The pleats are made from thin layers of veneer fixed to fabric, which forms the bellows and are wrapped around a rectangular base, thus enclosing the shelves. ‘Accordion Cabinet’ was shown as part of [D3] Design Talents at IMM Cologne 2011. [Text: Linda Cheng]

Elisa Strozyk elisastrozyk.de

Bathe (61 2) 9518 0163 bathe.net.au

getting crafty The ‘PULP’ chair is the most recent piece from Studio Jo Meester’s PULP Furniture Collection, which takes papier-mâché to whole new levels. Created as part of the Dutch studio’s TESTLAB project launched in 2008, the PULP collection is based on the principals of sustainability, craftsmanship, sophistication and detailing. The innovative collection comprises products made from paper waste, and formed using discarded objects as positive-image moulds. ‘PULP’ chair is created using a mixture of shredded newspaper, glue and water applied in several layers over the surface of the mould. Once the layers dry, they are cut in two, removed from the mould and then glued back together. A final layer of the pulp mixture is applied and the inside of the vessel is then treated with epoxy resin for a strong, waterproof coating. The result is a unique and tactile design with a graphic cartoon quality. It’s conceptual, functional, and definitely more design-oriented than the papier-mâché projects you brought home from pre-school. [Text: MF]

Studio Jo Meesters (31 65) 422 3188 jomeesters.nl

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Light and shade This dynamic ceiling lamp, called ‘Kinema Pendant Luminaire’, has been created by American designer, Stuart Fingerhut. Like a lady bug flapping its wings, the layers of exo-skeleton on the pendant open and close individually, as desired, to control the amount of light beaming through the folds, without the use of a dimmer switch. ‘Kinema’ is made of two layers of brushed brass or brushed aluminium. Cut into rings, the material is suspended via it’s narrow mid-section from a flat plane thus enclosing the light bulb. The seductive wings not only give this pendant its distinctive aesthetic but, as the light shines through them, it casts a mesmerising pattern of shadow and light on the surrounding surfaces. The pendant can be installed on its own or in combination, setting the mood and a dramatic lighting effect. ‘Kinema’ is available in a range of colours as well as custom colours. [Text: LC] (Photography: Ben Gibbs) Stuart Fingerhut (1 323) 963 3393 stuartfingerhut.com

Bare essentials There is nothing adjunct about this flat packed table designed by New Zealander Nathan Goldsworthy. Simple in both form and functionality, ‘Adjunct’ comprises ten pieces that easily connect without glue or screws, and can be taken apart and reassembled as often as needed. ‘Adjunct’ is crafted from White Oak and is available in a variety of veneers, including Wenge, Sycamore, White Ash, Walnut, and Rock Maple. A minimalist line in the PVC edge is available in 12 colours. ‘Adjunct’ table is currently stocked at Corporate Culture in Auckland and Australia and Backhouse in Wellington. [Text: MF]

Conscious Design (64 4) 385 9624 consciousdesign.co.nz Corporate Culture (61 2) 9690 0077 corporateculture.com.au Backhouse (64 4) 499 8847 backhousenz.com indesignlive.com

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Johannes Kuhnen The pioneering metal work of Johannes Kuhnen has had a considerable influence on craft-based design in Australia

luminaryindesign

words Jan Howlin pORTRAIT Anthony Browell

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ARTindesign

words Mandi Keighran

Design Lab

Belgian art collective Lab [au] explores the new spaces of the information age

elgian art collective LAb[au] couldn’t have chosen a more fitting name when they formed in Brussels in 1997. Most obviously, the name means ‘laboratory for architecture and urbanism’, describing the group’s experimental approach that navigates between architecture, information design, digital art and sculpture. But, like much of LAb[au]’s work, there’s more to it than that. Pronounced in French, the emphasis falls on bau, German for ‘construction’ and a link to the Bauhaus movement.

“The Bauhaus is very important to us,” says Manuel Abendroth, one of the founding members of LAb[au]. “It was a place where technological shift led to artists, designers, architects, musicians and dancers questioning what it meant to create in a new industrialised world.”

The parallels are easy to draw. Just as Walter Gropius and his peers were navigating the shift to an industrialised world, LAb[au] are discovering new forms of architecture and space in an emerging information society in which rapidly evolving networks and advancing technologies abound.

With the dawn of the information age, new questions to do with the purpose of architecture, art and design have arisen. Architecture, for example, is a representation of a specific purpose – so, a public library has meaning in the urban landscape and represents certain values and ideals – but in the information age, what is representation? What is connectivity?

How do we access information? It’s issues like this that members of LAb[au] – Abendroth, Jérôme Decock, Els Vermang and Alexandre Plennevaux – are broaching.

“You can speak about it in terms of architectural thinking,” says Abendroth. “It’s how to translate social, economic and other structures into artefact.”

These ‘artefacts’ are frameworks – structures that run software or other applications – which react to a

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words ANDREA STEVENS photography SIMON DEVITT architects ARCHITECTUS (BASE BUILDING), WARREN AND MAHONEY IN ASSOCIATION WITH GEYER (INTERIORS) location AUCKLAND | NZ PROJECT TELECOM PLACE

CONNECT FOUR Urban strategy seamlessly merges with workplace strategy at Telecom Place in Auckland indesignlive.com

uckland’s CBD developed quite haphazardly over the last half century. The city’s heritage wasn’t always grand in scale or detail, yet far too much has been randomly demolished to make way for tall modern buildings. This unbridled private development has led to a patchy central city, quite at odds with the character and natural beauty that surrounds it.

Times are changing, however. Upgrades to civic spaces, new public transport corridors, and the formation of the city’s urban design panel in 2003, all point to a greater civic focus by local government. The city council has been busy re-writing planning policy, and one of the new urban precincts identified is Victoria Quarter – the western edge of the CBD, adjacent to Victoria Park.

The desirability of this area is undeniable. Its industrial character and proximity to Queen Street, Ponsonby, Viaduct Harbour and various transport links attract a mixed use. The Sale Street area, characterised by old brick warehouses, has a thriving business and residential community. The rest of the Quarter will be much denser – as befits a CBD – but council wants to build on the successes at Sale Street.

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Previous pages View of Telecom Place from Victoria Park showing how the four buildings on the block engage with the street right There are numerous areas within the buildings for collaborative work below Break-out spaces at the edge of each floor look into the atrium

One of the first new buildings to be designed under the Victoria Quarter plan is on the site of the old postal depot at 167 Victoria Street West. It is New Zealand’s biggest single tenant office building on a site just under one hectare, and one of the country’s largest organisations has moved in – Telecom.

Architectus has designed a family of four buildings on the city block. “When you look at the urban context, there are lots of holes and gaps and the street edge is poorly defined,” says joint architect, Patrick Clifford.

“So, from an urban perspective, we needed to move the building elements to the corners and up to the boundary to begin to repair the street.”

Victoria Quarter has a relatively fine scale, and the architects have taken great care in massing and detail to fit the buildings into this context. Each building has a formal ordering of base, middle and top. Variety is created within this scheme through subtle changes in material, texture and colour, and variation in height, proportion and space between buildings. “Materials subtly relate to the way the buildings are organised,” explains joint architect, Carsten Auer. “The lowest one has black joinery rather than silver, bluestone rather than white granite, and a series of dark colours on the fins and glass.”

Around the perimeter, a white canopy steps and folds, acting as an urban scaling device and entry signal. It wasn’t a council requirement, but “came about because Victoria Street is a bit neglected,” says Clifford. “It is used a lot, but it doesn’t offer a lot of amenity.” As well as providing shelter at street level, it layers the elevation vertically by creating depth and shadow, and unites the block by forming a strong base.

Above the canopy, a sophisticated curtain wall system clads the middle section of the façade. Here the architects have set up an arhythmic pattern with sequences of clear glass and coloured frit glass.

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words PAUL MCGILLICK photography CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK JONES architect COX RAYNER, BVN architecture location BRISBANE | AUS PROJECT ENERGEX

Powering the Future Queensland power utility, Energex, is transforming the way it works through its impressive new headquarters in Brisbane s we know, it takes more to change behaviour than simply giving people lectures. With organisations, it helps if senior management makes a commitment to change and then initiates a bottom-up process to ensure that the staff take ownership of the new workplace by participating in the planning and by being prepared for how the new environment will work and the protocols implied.

Basically, behaviour changes directly as a result of experience – not from wrestling with abstract ideas or well-intentioned exhortations. This realisation has been one of the drivers behind the revolution in the workplace over the last decade. Recognising that our physical environment influences the way we behave, architects and their clients have increasingly explored how the physical environment can be designed to change the culture of a business.

Cultural change has become a priority in workplace design as businesses of all kinds realise that the instantly connected global economy with its emphasis on innovation, along with all kinds of new ethical imperatives, demands a whole new way of working.

Transparency, connectedness and creative stimulus – not to mention social and environmental sustainability – have become the benchmarks of the well considered contemporary workplace.

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New Office An international hotel company gets

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words LYNN TAN photography JEREMY SAN architect K2LD Architects location SINGAPORE PROJECT INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP

hen InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) first embarked on the renovation project for their existing office premises, they initiated a series of internal workshops to brainstorm and identify exactly what they needed operationally and functionally, as well as how best to reinforce the IHG brand while reflecting the Group’s history. They then set about the process of selecting an architect who would realise this vision.

K2LD Architects was eventually commissioned from among seven shortlisted candidates. The key to K2LD’s winning design was a proposal that was in line with what IHG had identified through their brainstorming workshops. “We went beyond the client’s brief and studied the IHG profile and analysed their corporate culture before coming up with our winning concept,” says K2LD Architects Director, Ko Shiou Hee. “Despite it being the first time that we were taking on a project of this nature, we are glad that we convinced the client.”

Thematic walls feature prominently in K2LD’s design. A display wall of various cultural handicrafts, including pottery and basketry, at the reception area provides a warm welcome to visitors and conveys a regional flavour befitting the AsiaPacific Headquarters. An backlit wall showcases an assortment of teacups in the meeting room adjacent to reception, serving as a symbol of service and is also an apt expression for the hospitality industry.

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approach a new office that reinforces what lies at the heart of the hospitality business indesignlive.com

BEAUTY WORSHIP This spa takes inspiration from Middle Eastern beauty rituals and the Bento

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words ALICE BLACKWOOD photography SHANNON MCGRATH Interior Design ANNA DRUMMOND DESIGN location MELBOURNE | AUS PROJECT SKIN TEMPLE

ike a jewel embedded at the base of Elenberg Fraser’s luxury residential development on St Kilda Road, the Skin Temple Medi Clinic & Spa offers up a wealth of beauty that goes far beyond the surface. For interior architect Anna Drummond and owner, Dr Alicia Teska, the project was an evolutionary process, flowering from an office re-location into a holistic rejuvenation.

“The original city-based practice was a traditional medical suite, specialising in cosmetic procedures,” says Drummond. The acquisition of a ground-level space on St Kilda Road, along with Dr Teska’s vision of a ritualistic beauty spa, was too good an opportunity for Drummond to pass up.

Elements of Middle Eastern culture and traditional beauty rituals of the Orient – particularly hammam steam treatments – were integral to the brief. It was thus essential that the spaces support these rituals – steam rooms, scrub rooms and massage rooms with domed ceilings and walls. Referencing Indian and Middle Eastern architecture, these spaces are dictated by a three-way curve. “So the condensation never gathers, it continually runs,” says Drummond. “It was this concept which drove a lot of the design – especially from a detailing point of view,” she says.

“The other fundamental part of the brief was the notion of feminine architecture; creating a space that was quite feminine but still strong.”

Responding to such a complex brief demanded a completely original approach, and Drummond tackled this with a literal solution. Working with the idea of a bento box, she neatly “packaged” everything – from the crosshatch of oriental influences, to the Hammam products and services, and even complex structural issues. “I wanted to capture the allure of a bento box as a mysterious container revealing beautiful delicacies,” she says. “The interior architecture is that package.”

The very centre of the 250m 2 space acts as the core, with ‘bites’ removed to reveal feature details such as the reception desk, waiting area and tea point. “And as you pull these ‘parts’ out, you have these precious reveals, like the mother-of-pearl in the Bisazza mosaics at the reception,” says Drummond. Custom furniture pieces in steel and limed Oak also illustrate the bento box concept. A credenza in the waiting area, for example, is fitted with several delicate lift-out trays, which are used to present exquisitely packaged products to customers.

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box, proving beauty is more than skin deep

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words RACHAEL BERNSTONE photography ANTHONY BROWELL architect DURBACH BLOCk Jaggers location SYDNEY | AUS project ROSLYN STREET STUDIO

A Patron's LEGACY Generous patronage and gentle persuasion convinced Durbach Block Jaggers to abandon their CBD studio for colourful Kings Cross he decision to move from Sydney’s CBD – where Durbach Block Jaggers had shared space with fellow architects Neeson Murcutt and landscape architect Sue Barnsley for 14 years – wasn’t easy or straightforward.

Durbach Block Jaggers (DBJ) and their client, the late Ron White, had discussed collaborating on “the right site” for several years, and once this building entered construction, the architects realised it would make a great studio. “Over the course of the project, Ron never gave up on the idea of us moving in here,” says Neil Durbach. “He gently nudged us along, and he gave us the idea to finance the purchase with a selfmanaged superannuation fund, which is what we did.”

Ron White died unexpectedly in May 2010 while on holiday in Europe, just after DBJ had exchanged contracts on the sale. “He was an amazing guy, a real patron of architecture, so it was a very bleak time,” says Durbach. “We thought, ‘What are we going to do now?’, but Ron’s wife Robin and their sons have picked up the reins, and we’ve enjoyed working with them too.”

Having made the move out of the “dark and windy” city in August 2010, Durbach and Camilla Block are thrilled with their new neighbourhood, home to many colourful characters. “I had grown to hate the city because it’s an increasingly lonely place,” Durbach says, “but here we feel like we are part of a community.”

“And when you’re working after hours, you don’t feel so bad,” adds Block. “The office has become part of

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Left The sculpted façade

seen from the street

Next Pages The shared

studio offers space to display models and critique works-in-progress

our routine, because we can meet friends for lunch or dinner or coffee nearby, so it’s much more fun to come to work now.”

It was important for DBJ to convince their York Street co-tenants to move with them, but it took considerable persuasion for everyone to agree to the relocation, as the Cross still has some seedy elements despite the area’s rapid gentrification.

“We have worked together as a group on some projects, and we enjoy the machinations of being in an office together,” Block says. “We also like having other people around who can look at our work.”

Their combined studio space on the second floor – the ground and first floors are occupied by restaurants – is divided into three distinct sections by custom joinery. It integrates closed cabinets at the base, workstations and benchtops in the middle, and open shelving at the top. Additional open shelving against the walls provides plenty of space for catalogues, files, material samples, and most importantly, models and works-in-progress, which are prominently displayed for all to see and critique.

Neeson Murcutt’s space overlooks Roslyn Street, with its restaurants, boutiques and watering holes; while Sue Barnsley’s office occupies the prime round point of the building, with views over the pocket park below and neighbouring rooftops. DBJ’s space overlooks the rear lane and blank-faced walls, but with characteristic humour they say they don’t mind indesignlive.com

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profiling the life and work of creators around the globe 199 Chris Rak 202 Patrick Blanc 204 Martin Ballendat

Chris Rak contemplates the labour intensive process required to make each of his highly precise architectural sculpture works

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ISSUES AND IDEAS AROUND DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE 207 212

GEHRY’S UTS: ICON OR FOLLY? CREATIVE INDUSTRY OR CULTURAL CAPITAL?

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sustainable practices indesign 217

The Good Neighbour

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The Architect’s View – Richard Naish, RTA Studio, Design Director We like ‘public’ work. We’re heavily into context and we’re really interested in what I call ‘pre-existences’ on sites. So, not just the physical context of what is there now, but also ‘what was there?’ And the interesting thing we’re starting to consider is ‘what might be there in the future?’ It’s quite powerful to link into historical context and pre-existences, and manifest that in some way into the materiality, form or plan of the building. It’s an approach that’s repeating itself in a lot of our projects – this idea of trying to lock in some kind of relationship.

There is a lack of cohesion here in Auckland.

Buildings just seem to pop up with no consideration of their neighbours, the urban design fabric, or networks of pedestrians and bicycles. Roads have just been smashed through the city. We respect context when we’re putting in something new, even when the existing isn’t that remarkable. Sometimes the unremarkable neighbour becomes more remarkable by the new neighbour that comes and sits next to it.

We’re always attracted to projects with a public agenda. Like university and school projects, which are used by groups rather than individuals, and where those groups change each year. Commercial buildings can have a very minimal public agenda, but by literally being in the city, that makes them, in our minds, important buildings in how they relate to context and urban design.

Buildings like Ironbank have so much opportunity to go way beyond that public/private mentality. For example, by providing a through-site link to Cross Street, you could potentially catalyse a thriving little retail street. I’m sure that will happen one day. The recession will just be a minor glitch in the progress of that whole area.

driven by sustainability. There are more options, which are more sophisticated and affordable now, so we can achieve better results, which can be quantified by the rating systems available.

Thirty years ago, you were not allowed to store water or to create power. If you did so, you would be penalised by the local authorities. But since then there has been a quantum shift in thinking. I think longterm the authorities will get tougher on waste, so we are future-proofing our buildings. It’s also responsible behaviour. It’s social citizenship. At the same time we achieve the goals of our company and satisfy our investors – so everybody wins.

The tenants love the space at Ironbank. They like the look of it, the outlook and its cohesiveness. The non-air conditioned environment is working for them; it’s increasing productivity and reducing sick days. It’s quite a big mind-shift moving to a non-airconditioned building, because you actually have to dress for the seasons, but it’s a healthy choice.

The Tenant’s View – Matt Headland, EMI Music New Zealand, Country Manager I’m a firm believer that we get the best out of people if they have great communication with one another and great understanding. My main driver for moving into this new office was its openness for a more inspired, more interpersonal environment. We wanted as much natural light and air as we could get. I find that far more stimulating than sitting in a box, and there’s gallons of it here.

Opposite The lift shaft and

inner plaza

Below The open design

provides the opportunity for social connection between tenants

The Developer’s View – Marco Creemers, Samson Corporation, General Manager Our vision is for our buildings to be sustainable and to make an architectural statement – to be iconic.

It’s where we see our niche as a property investment company. We like our tenants to have as much of, and as good an outlook as possible. A lot of our office buildings have courtyards to maximise outlook, ambience and provide a sense of community, like D72, Site3 and AXIS. It’s also a Green Star value.

We’re very proud of our buildings and we want them to last. We use quality materials so that they’re still around in 100 years time. Our buildings have a very natural look to them and we use materials that get better with age.

We’ve been putting in place ‘green’ initiatives for years – like movement and rain sensors, etc – to keep our operating expenses down and make our buildings more marketable. Ironbank’s overall operating costs are lower than a comparable non-green building, around 73 per cent lower. Nowadays, the market is indesignlive.com

Issue 45 out 18 may

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