SHAPE Sydney Office

The project aimed to relocate the NSW SHAPE Team from its long-standing home in St Leonards to a more agile and efficient central Sydney location. SHAPE set out to create an environment that would also meet a 6-Star GreenStar target. Every decision made from the commencement of the design and through the build was focused on ensuring we achieved our 6-Star GreenStar goal – without compromise.

The new space includes an open plan work area, executive offices and a variety of meeting spaces set around a central hub. The planning approach of the space was influenced by an Indigenous Australian icon which represents a meeting place (concentric circles) and journey path (lines). This important concept is represented by the Hub space that welcomes all staff and visitors immediately as they exit the lift on level 11.

Creating an open connection to the hub meant that there would be acoustic challenges for the adjacent meeting rooms, offices, and open-plan workspace. To meet this challenge, SHAPE engaged an acoustic engineer early in the process. Every planning design, partition/ceiling/floor detail and finish selection was carefully considered to ensure that our acoustic performance goals would be met.

The SHAPE office sets a new benchmark for what can be achieved in workspace construction through incredibly close collaboration between architect, builder, subcontractors and client. The office achieved its primary goal of creating a high-quality innovative workspace that makes use of every available square metre of floor space. With a clear focus on a challenging acoustic brief and high environmental targets, the result has exceeded quality expectations and created a space everyone wants to work in.

Photos by The Pixel Collective