With a number of regional business units co-locating to this new office, the space had to accommodate a strong vertical connection and encourage collaboration, cohesion and increased transparency between and throughout the floors.
By adding design objectives to be equitable and provide flexibility, the fit out is able to efficiently unify formerly separated business units into an interdependent work environment.
These objectives were realised by using materials for their durability and efficiency rather than a statement of grandeur, and contributed to the fit out being dependable and honest.
The FFE selection was designed to give a softer overlay and inject colour into what was an architectural palate of materials, and had to offer great value with high performance.
Storage demands vary greatly from project to project, Bates Smart undertook extensive strategic briefing and image response sessions with the client, revealing that TransGrid’s existing centralised storage was underutilised.
TransGrid set a goal for its new workspace to reduce its paper storage in line with its organisational priority to be environmentally conscious and to support the green star certification of the building. With this in mind, and to accommodate the large numbers of staff on each floorplate, the team storage had to offer the ultimate in flexibility and durability.
Designed by CSM’s in house engineering team and manufactured in Sydney, the Evolution Cabinets were supplied in a variety of customised sizes to suit the differing needs of the office. All file storage was designed to take lever arch files and with planter boxes on top to aid in softening the space. A number of cabinets were tailored with telescopic arms for hanging coats and jackets, providing flexible storage options for staff, whilst also adhering to the aesthetics of the workspace.
“The CSM range offered us the flexibility and quality that we required, the range is so extensive that we were confident that we could find the right high quality solutions and give the client piece of mind that should their requirements change, they would be able to expand their storage capabilities with compatible and similar systems.
The Good Environmental Choice label (GECA) held by the CSM product was an added bonus and contributed towards the 6 Star Green Star rating that TransGrid’s space achieved, this represents ‘World Leadership’ in environmentally sustainable construction.”
– Brenton Smith, Studio Director, Bates Smart
