Image Credit : Eve Wilson
Project Overview
South Wharf Tower is a reinvigoration of a once tired and cold office lobby into an immersive experience. Inspired to make the entry experience an uplifting journey, a holistic ensemble of three sensory episodes in the form of a business lounge, intimate seating area, and lift lobby, were nested within the existing lobby, making it a place to be.
In the glazed business lounge, clever layering of screens and dados, with nested pavilions, and loose furniture vignettes creates a loose and feathered space with undertones of residential intimacy.
The intimacy of the seating area works in counterpoint to the business lounge, whilst the timber lined lift lobby offers a crescendo of timber tactility and a sense of expansiveness at the culmination of the journey.
Creating a unique sensory entry experience, the business lounge has provided massive uplift for the landlord and tenants alike.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Craig Tan - Director
Tessa Williamson - Project Architect
Diem Le - Project Lead
Project Brief
The brief was to redefine the entry experience to create places to encourage tenants to dwell, rather than pass through, the entry lobby. Previously under-utilized, uninspiring seating zones needed transformation. Inspired to curate the entry experience as an uplifting sensory journey, CTA created an ensemble of three episodes that were nested within the existing lobby.
Business Lounge:
This is defined by a timber fretwork dado that creates a feathered edge to the zone. A series of fretwork pavilions with seating and planting create inviting nooks to occupy. A further layer of furniture, rugs, and fixtures were chosen in balanced ensembles of tone and texture to create pockets of intimacy within the space. Custom lighting and integrated shelving offer styled vignettes to provide a lived-in feel to the space.
Seating area:
Anchored by an interplay of timber plinth, rug, shelving, and powdercoated metal-clad fire wall, the space creates a moody and almost domestic setting that works in counterpoint to the business lounge.
Lift Lobby:
The lift lobby has been transformed using a rich timber dado to create a cosseting personal scale that represents a crescendo of materiality from the strategic timber touch points of the business lounge. Above, a syncopated series of uplit painted timber portal fins disappear into infinity through mirrored band that creates an expansive sensory correction to inspire the senses of the user.
The immersive business lounge has created a memorable gathering space for the tenants. Combined with the re-working of the fire egress strategy it has liberated a once cold and forbidding office lobby and returned massive uplift for the landlord and the tenants.
Project Innovation/Need
This project demonstrates an innovative approach to architecture through the curation of sensory experiences made with three decisive interventions within an existing, sterile volume, in the form of a business lounge, seating area and lobby space.
Painted timber fretwork was inserted within the glazed space to create the business lounge zone. Nested within this are a series of pavilions with timber plinth bases, which house seating and planting and create inviting nooks to occupy.
The seating zone is anchored by an interplay of a low timber plinth, inset rug, loose furniture and lighting, presenting a moody and almost domestic setting working as a counterpoint to the business lounge.
The lift lobby exudes warmth from new timber cladding at low level. Above, a syncopated series of uplit portal find disappear into infinity through mirrored surfaces that create expansive sensory corrections that inspire the senses of the user.
Design Challenge
The project is helping to redefine the potential of office lobbies within its precinct to help encourage workers back to the office, providing a series of ‘third spaces’ in which to work and socialize. In order to deliver this, it was important to create a series of materially-rich atmospheres in counterpoint to the existing sterile lobby, with hard surfaces throughout.
Key to achieving a materially tactile outcome was working through the fire strategy of the building: the tower had been designed with fire egress through the entry lobby which prohibited the installation of any combustible materials within the space. To overcome this critical impediment, we collaborated closely with the fire engineer to calibrate the whole tower egress strategy and upgraded some fire walls to enable the tactile timber and textile finishes of the final fit-out.
During construction access to lobby was required, which was achieved through careful staging and close collaboration with the builder. Panelized materials were used in high-use locations so they could be installed after hours to minimize tenant disruptions.
Sustainability
The targeted interventions within an existing lift lobby addresses a sustainable approach through its design by creating a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable outcome within an existing space. This uplift has been created without a complete overhaul of every surface, minimising demolition and new materials required to define a social atmosphere in which to dwell.
The design provides opportunity for meaningful human interaction through provision of comfortable seating in a relaxed setting. Choices are provided to accommodate individuals, groups, and a combination of both simultaneously. It provides a communal space within the building to encourage these interactions to occur, where previously the space felt vast and cold: transitory rather than habitable. The screens within the space provide an intimacy, whilst still allowing for sightlines through the space ensuring it feels safe and inviting.
The project demonstrates economic sustainability by working with much of what was existing, and inserting elements into the space, rather than demolishing all the internal finishes and starting from scratch. To balance the budget with the brief and provide uplifting and comfortable spaces, the flooring and ceiling were largely retained. Carpet and tile insertions were created to augment the tactility of the spaces to dwell. The use of spotted gum Armourpanel and painted pine fretwork created an economical and sustainable palette for the space. The focus on rich materiality at key touchpoints helps to define a comfortable human scale within an otherwise vast entry lobby.
Interior Design - Corporate
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes, aesthetic presentation and functionality. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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