Image Credit : Josh Hill Photography
Project Overview
JET Menulog commissioned Unispace to create an impactful and playful space for its rapidly expanding team in Sydney. Located in the prime position of International Towers 3 in Barangaroo, this office takes advantage of the existing building fitout and reused furniture to create a progressive space that clearly represents the food delivery tech brand.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
The project team consisted of strategists, designers and project coordinators from Unispace Australia working in collaboration with JET Menulog.
Project Brief
JET Menulog, a global Unispace client, engaged our Australian team to develop a local workspace strategy to support growth and their move to a new head office in Sydney. Employees’ needs were at the forefront of the brief to support their new ways of working, foster learning and collaboration, and build on the company’s culture.
This project coincided with a global rebrand for JET Menulog. They brought their Australian call centre back on shore to Macquarie Park while building the HQ in Barangaroo. We worked closely with their London design team, who simultaneously designed a new UK office, to ensure global design consistency and branding. This gave us the opportunity to present exciting design concepts to JET Menulog for consideration.
Due to the client’s choice of a premium location, we were proactive and progressive in our design budget, and found ways to make the most of the existing building’s fitout, existing furniture and equipment.
This led to a brief which focused on exciting new elements to the space, including the IT Tech Bar, bespoke meeting pods and ‘caves’, and the three-tiered auditorium. This tied into the brief to bring the brand and character of Menulog to this office in a playful way that will draw staff into the office and attract and retain talent in the tech industry.
Project Innovation/Need
This project focused on strong and playful integration of Menulog branding into the design, which is seen through colour choices and fun features like the interactive wall where staff write what food they are craving. Menulog were open to us pushing boundaries, and their rebrand that was taking place concurrently meant that some of our suggestions could actually be incorporated.
Our design innovation for this space focused on the creation of a bespoke 3-tiered auditorium, two ‘caves’, the bespoke meeting pods, the IT Tech Bar, and designing the kitchen to feel and look more like Menulog. These brand driven details were integrated all the way down to the room naming, with a division of sweet foods on L34 and savoury foods on L35 as a naming convention to all meeting spaces.
We comprehensively reviewed existing furniture and equipment in the Barangaroo space and decided to sustainably use 100% of the workstations and lockers, and many meeting rooms stayed in place. The kitchen was largely functional but we upgraded it to suit the new brand with a full height custom artwork to each floor, and pops of the iconic orange through the new furniture and kitchen decals.
Design Challenge
This project took place mid-Covid, which presented a number of communication and supply chain challenges which we were able to overcome, leading to a successful end result. We kept all team members and contractors well-informed, despite the site shutting down for a week due to Covid and people having to isolate.
The site has many curved walls which meant that collaboration between the joiner, the partitioner and our design team was critical.
20-25% of the project was joinery, so this was run as a separate program and with time constraints. Leading into Christmas and with a materials shortage, it was crucial that the joinery go in on time.
The bespoke, high-spec building in Barangaroo involved a lot more coordination in terms of engineering of the space. The building's existing chilled beam system required a great deal of coordination for any new meeting rooms to ensure a functional space that avoided abortive works. Barangaroo’s facilities management were consulted throughout to ensure their leading approaches to waste management systems and building guidelines were upheld with this new design.
Sustainability
During the design phase, Unispace comprehensively reviewed existing furniture and equipment in the 5,000 sqm sublease space and recommended to sustainably use 100% of the workstations and lockers, majority of meeting rooms and leverage the kitchen functionality. This approach significantly reduced potential landfill waste, reduced lead times and cost savings in furniture selection, production, and delivery overall ensuring the project was delivered on time, despite Covid-19 lockdowns and supply chain shortages.
For new furniture requirements, we used local suppliers who created custom furniture to suit our needs, these new items introducing the playful colours of Menulog’s brand throughout.
Interior Design - Commercial
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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