Project Overview

FromHereOn exists to help clients realise their strategic ambitions, so it seemed befitting that they appointed Siren to realise their creative ambitions for the design of their new home. Siren’s design approach for the 500m2 heritage space was underpinned by their own design methodology to provide momentum with clear purpose. Every touchpoint had to be individual, unique, memorable and collaborative. The project was completed across two floors with the main communal zones centred across one floor including a bar, library and apartment zone and the focus on performance areas across the other floor. The finishes and materiality are warm and welcoming which truly reflects the quality and heart of the FromHereOn brand.

Project Commissioner

FromHereOn

Project Creator

Siren Design

Project Brief

With a purpose of helping their clients realise ambitious possibilities to innovate and stay ahead of the competition, it was imperative the space reflected this in its entirety while maintaining humanised warmth. Easily mistaken for a beautiful bar or lounge, FromHereOn is a sophisticated and refined space with high level detailing and furnishings to reflect the brand and resonated with the values and work they create. The space is permeated by striking customised touches that imprint on the memory of clients, such as the custom design pencil table filled with 1000+ pencils. The materials throughout the space are polished and sophisticated with elements of brass, solid timber and glass mosaics forming a beautifully designed space that is sensitive to the Class One heritage building.
Level 4 acts as a canvas for clients to engage with the space and pursue their business opportunities, allowing them to take advantage of the hospitality feel by hosting functions & engaging with the technologically driven yet sophisticated apartment space for training. Level 3 is a functional yet creative space assisted by customized joinery and collaborative tools to allow the FromHereOn staff to reach their strategic and creative heights while strengthening their commitment to the brand through fostering a space of learning, openness, collaboration and growth. Designed to be an exciting hub for international, interstate and interoffice collaboration and learning, less of a focus was placed upon permanent workstations and more on the ability to house large groups of people generating discussion, ideas and business solutions.

Project Innovation/Need

The highly intricate level of detail in the many elements of the design created a harmony between the interior design and building structure which ultimately allowed the desired homely feeling to flourish through providing a functional place to gather, collaborate and entertain which can be identified as somewhat of a unique trait not often found in commercial offices.
With the natural beauty of the heritage space shining through as a focal, Siren Design reinvigorated the space through transformative and advanced tools of functionality. With collaboration and advancement being so inherent to the way FromHereOn operates, ultra-modern alternatives to typical ideas spaces were fashioned by Siren through the use of illuminated glass boards where the texture and beauty of the sandstone structure acted as a backdrop to the scribbles of the strategists, as opposed to the typical alternative of the unimaginative whiteboard.

Design Challenge

The greatest challenge came from the physical, structural design of the space; not a single screw could be drilled into the existing sandstone structure which meant every joinery item was designed to be freestanding, self-supporting or if necessary, suspended. The Sydney fraction of the business houses large number of consultants, most of which projected a strong need for highly collaborative spaces. It was important to find a happy medium between this and the inherent need of housing the more permanent staff, while ensuring a connection to space could be established for all employees and cementing the harmonisation between the heritage and unique functional interior aspects.

Sustainability

FromHereOn resides in a grade 1 heritage listed building, inherently the former gasworks, the building has beautiful aged features such as original sandstone and timber structure which meant very few ‘designed elements’ had to be injected in the space. Utilising and empowering this was the ultimate sustainable strategy. All internal elements are designed to be demountable and removable. No fixings could penetrate the existing structure so all joinery and writable surfaces were designed to be freestanding and therefore can be relocated and reused if FromHereOn ever chooses to move.