The new Parliament Square development symbolises the current rejuvenation of Hobart and the Salamanca Building is the key.

Pavilions, hubs, neighbourhoods, precincts and the like are fast becoming a popular staple in the agile workplace diet – but why? In their latest project for Red Energy Melbourne, iconic studio Carr sees the significance of these spaces as allowing users to claw back some personal ownership of their working environment.

When is a showroom not a showroom? Whenever Mercedes-Benz launches a new Me Store. Mercedes Me Melbourne inhabits a shell by Woods Bagot, as part of the Rialto Towers street level refurbishment.

The National Australia Bank’s (NAB) Brisbane Headquarters, NAB Place, designed by global architecture firm, Woods Bagot, sets a new benchmark in collaborative workplace environments.

Sometimes the most highly evolved designs are incomplete. When conceptualising the new Suncorp headquarters in Sydney, the interiors team at Geyer worked to the idea of ‘designing to 80%’. The result is a radical take on the oft-used idea of workplace flexibility. While the building caters to the needs of its residents in the present, it comprehensively avoids dictating what these needs will be in the future.

When builder/developer Mirvac decided half-way through the development process for the EY Centre at 200 George Street, Sydney to move their headquarters into six levels of the building, it was a vote of confidence in their own project.

With all this buzz around ‘human focused’ design, architects and designers are having to think far more creatively around how to best integrate ‘responsiveness’ into workplaces – especially if your client is a rapid live news outlet. For New Zealand firm Warren and Mahoney, the design of Television New Zealand’s new Auckland headquarters was driven by their interest in the ‘power of people’ and the translation of their collective behaviours into the built form.

Place-specific design is so very de rigueur. But beyond the obvious, how is place-driven design being strategically integrated across both macro and micro aspect of a mega development? This was Terry Snow’s objective for his best-in-class Willinga Park Equestrian Centre – and Cox Architecture have delivered.

Luxury used to mean the consumption of precious objects and items. Then it became the consumption of exclusive services. Now, it’s all about “transformative experiences” – this is luxury 3.0. And Carr is pioneering this outrageous new archetype with one of 2017’s most Instagrammed projects.

The shopping mall is making a comeback – but not in the way you might expect. SJB reimagines the retail experience at Sydney’s iconic Chifley Plaza through a clever pairing of Manhattan Art Deco nostalgia and a design strategy that appeals to our hearts and our feet.

Carr Design Group combines corporate, residential and hospitality design principles for a diverse and flexible function space at the Collins Square Events Centre. Have they created the ultimate new design typology for next-gen hospitality? We think yes…

Design that reflects its local environment is a huge focus for practising architects and designers, and Sydney’s Barangaroo development is a hotbed for this kind of thinking. Gilbert + Tobin’s new Barangaroo workplace, designed by Woods Bagot, draws inspiration from the rich history and landscape of the site, while nestling nicely into Sydney’s new commercial identity.

The legal sector has traditionally adhered to a strict workplace hierarchy, with senior staff allotted a private office and entry-level employees assigned to the ‘open-plan’. Designed by Warren and Mahoney, the new head office for New Zealand law firm Russell McVeagh, challenges the antiquated workplace approach with a daring, material-rich agile strategy.

The old-school ‘client showroom’ is in desperate need of a shake-up – but where to start? Designed by Futurespace, PwC’s new Melbourne headquaters is purpose-built to break down traditional barriers between staff and clients. The results are extraordinary.

What is ‘salon learning’ and how is design responding to this new educational format? Arts West, Melbourne Univeristy’s riotous new Arts Faculty by ARM Architecture and Architectus, reimagines on-campus learning via the philosophy of object-based learning.

How can ‘smart workplaces’ stay flexible when advancements in integrated technology move so quickly? Unispace’s new Melbourne studio exhibits a built-in fluid and mutable working style that transcends the clunkiness of faddish design trends and wire-driven technology.

How does the world’s most influential auditing firm self-audit? Designed by Geyer, the new Deloitte Head Quarters in Perth is a stellar case study for self-analysis and designing for the (sometimes opposing) needs of many in a single space.

What happens when private business goes public – in a commercial design sense, that is? Brisbane’s most recent commercial addition, 480 Queen Street by BVN, is designed to create a sense of community inclusiveness. It’s a new-think approach to the traditional public-versus-private model.

Workplaces are no longer just singular production hubs, but company showrooms used by and with clients. Designed by Davenport Campbell, the new KPMG headquaters in Barangaroo transforms the brave new world of agile working into a workplace to call home.

In an era where technology and the ‘digerati’ rules all, we feel a strong need to make close online connections with the world at large. But how does this sense of connectivity and community translate to the physical workplace, and by extension, its design? In Jemena’s new Melbourne headquaters, seven floors and 800+ people have offered up a juicy challenge in exploring how design might create a sense of communal familiarity in a large-scale environment.