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SHAPE Adelaide office fitout awarded 5 Star Green Star certified rating

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The recently completed SHAPE Adelaide office fitout has achieved an incredible 5 Star Green Star certified rating by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

A founding member of the GBCA, SHAPE has had a longstanding commitment to sustainability. Previously, all SHAPE offices achieved a Green Star rating between 4 Star and 5 Star. As it works to realign its branch offices across Australia to the new approach to work, SHAPE is ensuring it achieves a high Green Star rating on each.

Founded by the GBCA in 2003, Green Star is an internationally recognised rating system. The design and construction of fitouts are assessed on nine categories and credits: management, indoor environment quality, energy, transport, water, materials, land use and ecology, emissions, and innovation.

Having delivered more than 50 Green Star projects nationally, SHAPE had the expertise to deliver a 5 Star Green Star accreditation on its own Adelaide fitout.

Located at 31 Waymouth Street in Adelaide, the SHAPE Adelaide office is based in a unique setting on the ground floor. Working together with the designers, JPE Design Studio, the team created an inviting home-like environment that promotes connectivity, collaboration and a sense of belonging for staff and clients.

“The ground floor retail space isn’t your typical office location, but our purpose was to create an office where people feel welcome,” said Kara Cursaro, Senior Project Manager at SHAPE.

“The kitchen and communal gathering space, which forms the central destination for social connectivity and hosting clients, was placed upfront to invite people in,” she said.

Balancing collaborative areas and quiet spaces for focused work, the office encourages a flexible and agile working model, and reflects SHAPE’s vision to be the place where everyone wants to work. The team also drew on SHAPE’s Reconciliation Action Plan to influence the design.

Working with the environmental consultants dsquared Consulting, the project team, designers and subcontractors implemented a variety of sustainable initiatives to achieve the SHAPE Adelaide office’s high Green Star rating.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves to receive innovation points by going that extra step. One way we did this was to encourage our subbies to get involved and propose Green Star elements that we could use in the project,” said Kara.

Reuse was a key focus of the project, with meeting room furniture from SHAPE Adelaide’s previous Victoria Square office given a new home in the space. Existing structural steel columns discovered during the demolition phase were also reused for the mezzanine level. For the joinery, subcontractors sourced only FSC certified timber, which all contributed to SHAPE Adelaide scoring a high rating in the ‘Materials’ category.

Products that minimise ecological harm were used, such as the ultra-low VOC paint, to meet the Green Star ‘Land Use and Ecology’ category requirements. The design also includes an innovative lighting system to minimise light pollution at night on neighbouring properties. Incredibly, more than 90 per cent of waste from the fitout was recycled.

Health and wellbeing was also a major consideration, which led to high points in the ‘Indoor Environment Quality’ category. A wellbeing room was incorporated into the design that doubles as a health space. Biophilic design elements, such as indoor planting and greenery, were integrated throughout the space.

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A founding member of the GBCA, SHAPE has had a longstanding commitment to sustainability.

“We’re incredibly proud of our 5 Star Green Star rating. It demonstrates our commitment to sustainability and all the hard work of our team, the designers and subcontractors who were involved in this project,” said Grant Patterson, General Manager of SHAPE South Australia.

“As a building company, we had the rare opportunity to stand in the shoes of the client, be objective, and look at the experience that you are delivering.

“I think we have created a place where our people feel that the space is part of them and they’re a part of the space. There’s a connection, they feel energised in it, and enjoy being in it. It brings out the best in them,” he said.

The SHAPE team’s commitment to sustainability does not end with its Green Star rating. Base build has agreed to move to green power in the future if feasible.

SHAPE has also recently submitted a 6 Star Green Star accreditation application for its new Sydney office.