The Ultimate Collaboration In Sustainable Workplace Design
Twenty years ago the idea of reuse within a brand new office space may have been considered “cheap”. Now the biggest companies are actively seeking it out. Our collective awareness is sharpening around concepts like carbon neutrality and circularity. IFM Investors’ Melbourne office shows off a new standard created when some of Australia’s leading minds in design and sustainability get together. Hassell’s architecture in collaboration with recycling specialists Revert Group, sustainable surface experts Noveco Surfaces, furniture manufacturer Mark Tuckey and Cult’s circular economy program ‘Cultivated’, together disprove the generic notion that sustainable design might compromise on aesthetics.
Hassell stated, “our emphasis on adaptability reflects a growing awareness of the need to preserve material value in an era of rapid business evolution. This workplace serves as a model for future projects, demonstrating that sustainability and design innovation can coexist and that creative solutions can be found even in the face of significant waste.”
The space is just as visually powerful as it is sustainable. The design is clear, open, with a foundation of white and timber themes, and accessorised in intentional moments of bold shape and colour. In the main common area, round lantern-like pendant lighting floats in the foreground of a floor-to-cieling view of the Melbourne skyline. Beneath them are custom slatted solid American Oak tables by Australian timber furniture manufacturer Mark Tuckey, punctuated by baby pink Arne Jacobsen Series 7 Chairs restored in collaboration with Cultivated.
According to Mark Tuckey 70 Series 7 chairs were “carefully sanded and refinished in a pale pink, while the bases were polished to restore their original shine.” Designed in 1955, the Series 7 Chair continues to be a timeless classic in modern furniture history. Restoring these chairs feels like an acknowledgement that great design deserves a second life.
Nowadays, the familiar pattern of office relocations - defit, discard and start over - is being actively challenged by circular principles. Furniture remains one of the easiest and most convenient ways for offices to be sustainably responsible. Instead of discarding old furniture, 40 per cent of this project’s pieces were sourced from the client’s previous office. 756 task chairs, 48 table bases and existing kitchen framework were maintained. This not only cuts costs but avoided the environmental impact of manufacturing and transporting hundreds of new furniture pieces, significantly reducing embodied carbon.
One of the most clever and innovative aspects of this project is how waste becomes a design feature. When the previous tenancy was removed, around eight tonnes of glass was left destined for landfill. Instead of allowing the material to leave the site as waste, Hassell collaborated with Revert and Noveco to recycle the glass into more than 500 square metres of terrazzo flooring. Made from 90 per cent recycled glass and 10 per cent silica-free binder, the flooring transforms a hidden sustainability initiative into one of the workplace's most visually distinctive materials. Increasingly, the most sustainable projects are finding ways to celebrate reused materials.
IFM Investors' Melbourne office is a result of Australia’s best in design and sustainability coming together. It is proof that the future of work culture is where circularity is becoming embedded within the design process itself. Achieving a WELL Platinum certification, the workplace challenges the long-held assumption that new is always better or more aesthetically pleasing.
Credits
Workplace Design
Hassell
Builder
Renascent
Project Management
Facilitate Corporation
Furniture Restoration
Mark Tuckey
Circular Furniture Program
Cultivated
Recycled Glass
Revert Group
Sustainable Terrazzo
Noveco Surfaces
Project Photographer
Nicole England
Other Photos of the Series 7 Chair
Sourced from the Cultivated website