Image Credit : Nicholas Smith
Project Overview
Striving to pave the way for future generations of staff, Aristocrat Technologies sought to revitalise their existing national headquarters through a full-building occupied refurbishment. This project celebrates a multi-faceted design including extensive workspace, amenities, café, staircase, wellness centre, showers, parents’ facilities, speciality spaces, lobby upgrades and graphic concept designs.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Alkimi Studio - Kate Bisson, Courtney Jacob, Amy Lee Richards, Shanice Almeria
Project Brief
Aristocrat as a brand is playful, bold and full of life. It was imperative to Aristocrat that this essence was captured throughout all floors of the new fit-out. Utilising the branding to inform the foundations of the palette, alkimi explored complementary colours, textures and patterns. This resulted in the creation of a broad and dynamic palette, unique to the new Aristocrat Headquarters. To ensure the space is conducive to each team’s workstyle, the palette can be manipulated to evoke energy or focus.
Aristocrat was guided by alkimi studio through a detailed strategic consultation journey to formulate the brief that would form the foundation of the design. Over the course of this extensive briefing and workshop process, Alkimi identified key client drivers including the wellness of their staff and the attraction and retention of talent across all generations of the workforce.
Seeking to establish a working office of the future, alkimi also deeply explored the way individual teams work through consultations with key representatives. This provided a holistic understanding of each team’s unique needs which was translated into an established and tailored environment, built specifically to suit and support each team within the company.
Project Innovation/Need
The result of our journey into the inner workings of this global entity, this design culmination echoes the essence of the Aristocrat brand. Each element of the ensuing workspace references subtle and daring interpretations of the Aristocrat branding. Bold colours and dynamic forms are articulated in both a sophisticated and playful manner. High energy collaboration spaces are filled with bold colours and detailing, whilst areas intended for focus and wellbeing are denoted by the absence of colour and soft finishes. Every collaboration setting is unique, from the custom lounge settings, to the contrasting ottoman upholsteries.
Responding to Aristocrat’s desire to experiment and implement new ways of working, these generous floorplates enabled a spatial transformation towards clustered team-based working and collaborative environments. These ‘neighbourhoods’ and their various supporting spaces provide flexibility and agility to support the specific team requirements of this multi-faceted company and its many businesses and functions that are housed under this one roof.
Addressing the clients desire for natural connection, the concept of biophilia became a source of continued inspiration throughout the design process. This ideology guided the development of the project, calling for the inclusion and promotion of healthy and light filled spaces. The interconnecting staircase forms the 'beating-heart' of this biophilic design, encouraging movement and engagement of staff across teams. Immediately adjacent to the stair, communal spaces have been designed allowing staff to gather, congregate, re-fuel and move freely throughout workspaces and communal hub floors.
Design Challenge
Situated in the heart of Macquarie Park, Aristocrat Technologies undertook an occupied refurbishment of their full-building, seven storey national headquarters. In the shift towards a more agile, collaborative workstyle, alkimi conducted in depth interviews across all teams. As a result, neighbourhoods were formed which catered to each team & their unique requirements.
Delivered on a staged program during full occupancy, each construction stage not only involved ensuring the final design was delivered at a high quality, but also involved an added level of team-based planning. Crafting temporary swing spaces with minimal wastage and ensuring each team had a suitable temporary space to work from was a continued design challenge throughout the entirety of the build.
Sustainability
Alkimi consciously sourced and collaborated with local companies who share our sustainable values and goals across all aspects of this design.
From the inception of the project we worked with Aristocrat to complete a full audit of existing furniture and other materiality which was re-used and given a new life within the refurbishment minimising both cost and environmental impact.
The custom designed and fabricated ottomans and lounging throughout cleverly utilised every part of the fabric upholstery resulting in very minimal wastage thanks to a powerful collaboration with our furniture design partners.
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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