Image Credit : Tyrone Branigan
Project Overview
A tale of two cities, the fit-out project for Cisco Meraki fused Sydney’s signature sunshine, greenery and restaurant scene with architectural icons from San Francisco in this newly merged home of two tech companies.
A sense of unified community was established by providing innovative and adaptable spaces that bring people together, including a fully functional commercial kitchen and barista station. Complemented by multiple neighbouring space solutions, this reinvented breakout area is now a chameleon capable of simple yet creative changes to form and function.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Karen Sperotto, Donna Zampino - Interior Designers
Matt Woods: Head of Projects
David Comfort: Site Manager
Lindsay Robinson: Project Coordinator
Joel Hornsey - Client Relations Executive
Annelie Xenofontos: Senior Workplace Strategist
Milton Dalziel: Head of Technical
Project Brief
Challenged with the amalgamation of two companies into one premises, the brief was to:
• Create a space which integrated both the client’s San Francisco roots and their Sydney base, blending the two without one dominating the other;
• Build a sense of community culture and inclusion for staff well-being;
• And lastly, address their lack of appropriate meeting rooms and collaboration spaces.
Axiom was asked to provide a communal breakout area that doubled as a town hall meeting space yet also remained adaptable to meetings and functions of all different sizes. This space needed to provide ample production capacity, not only for hosting events, but to provide breakfast and lunch for staff each day, as well as snacks, coffee, juices and all-day refreshments.
Project Innovation/Need
This multifunctional breakout area, opened up for a double height ceiling and embellished with its new kitchen, coffee station and inherent adaptability, proved to be the real showpiece of the project, becoming both the hub and heart of the office.
Whether an informal meet and greet, casual one-on-one chats in booths, or larger gatherings on the tiered seating and communal dining tables, the space offers numerous collaborative space solutions while also allowing people to find their individuality amongst the larger company.
A wall mounted TV screen has been angled perfectly to maximise viewpoints across the room, during monthly dial-ins with the San Francisco hub. Alternatively, mobile furniture means that even boxing and yoga classes can be hosted in the same space.
The kitchen was designed to be commercial grade, with the dual purpose of back-of-house preparation and clean-up, along with front-of-house, self-service functionality. It allows for cooking all day meals for staff, as well as hosting functions day or night.
Well-designed serveries allowed the kitchen staff minimal effort in setting up, replenishing the platters and cleaning up after each service, allowing staff more autonomy and interaction in keeping their breakout area clean and functional. Snack bars were designed and integrated in joinery throughout the office.
Design Challenge
Aesthetically, the challenge was in interpreting both cities; then subtly and intelligently integrating iconic parts of both into the new design and colour scheme.
For the Australian side, Axiom relied on natural light, the organics of fresh greenery and natural textures, tones and materials. Meeting rooms were named for favourite Sydney restaurants, as voted by the staff – a precursor to the restaurant-grade kitchen that Axiom introduced.
The San Franciscan roots are reflected through homage paid to the famous zigzag roof line and pastel colours of the ‘Painted Ladies’, along with the quintessential curvature of Lombard Street, by the angular formation of workstations and the reflective geometry repeated in the carpet and furniture. Not simply decorative, these patterns deliberately created private pockets for rest and relaxation within the larger public working space of the office.
Beyond this, the challenge was in creating, essentially, the functionality of a commercial kitchen, adaptable space solutions, yet infusing the area with a homely, inclusive ambiance.
Extensive research was required to maximise the kitchens' efficiency, including consideration of the impact on the workflow from every angle, how different spaces are experienced, noise reduction, lounge, storage and the sequence of requirements, enabling staff to do their part most effectively.
The TV wall overlooking the tiered seating necessarily had to capture visibility of the largest group of congregating people, so this had to be angled to a specific degree into the large corner niche of an unusually shaped building.
Sustainability
Axiom’s main approach to sustainability on this project was to focus on the efficiencies of future usage of the space – a large part of the workflow study for the new kitchen incorporated this – as well as both recycling existing materials and locally sourcing new requirements.
We introduced motion-sensor lighting throughout the entirety of the space, ensuring energy usage was only taking place as and when needed, and the new back-of-house workflow ensured reduction wastage across the various commercial grade appliances. Native plants were introduced throughout the space for natural air filtration and general staff well-being.
In addition to recycling the existing plasterboard, insulation in the walls and grid ceiling in the new build, all workstations were locally sourced, and much of the existing furniture was re-used as a nod to the ‘Cisco heritage’ that was required as part of the merging of the two companies, at the same time as reducing the carbon footprint of the project.
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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