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The new Australian corporate aesthetic now demands a work-space that is simple, modem, effective and, even better, achieved through a cash-neutral deal.
Facilities managers arenow the big guns of blue-chip corporations. Hammering out tough deals with building owners in the cities and business parks free fit-outs for long leases.
Boral, an enormous supplier of building materials to Australia, Southeast Asia and North Amenca, has just moved to the high end of the Sydney CBD
Allen Jack & Cottier now becoming known as a maior player in Svdneys interior design world, won the job -- Glenn Evans director of AJC and project leader for the Boral tit-out explains why an architectural firm of 40-years standing has taken to intenor design, "It helped us pull
through the recession when there was less building and more refurbishment. People aren' t building new buildings; they are changing their existing space or downsizing to smaller premis-
es.
In the recession, there were lots of fit-outs because people were taking advantage of good leasing deals, restructuring their management style and consolidating.
Such was the case with Boral, which moved disparate divisions from satellite positions to a city central location. The offices have been partly cabbaged from the fit-out of the previous tenant, a large Sydney law firm.
What had been small, partitioned offices was opened up with glass walls, creating an open-plan effect while nevertheless maintaining the interior joinery.
Off the main foyer are a variety of meeting rooms separated by acoustically rated operable walls which open to allow the rooms to be joined into one large area where more than 120 people can meet, supported by back-lit video screens capable of transmitting images from a laptop.
As the company has a large export sector, the provision of a video conference room was necessary. Here, parties meet across a virtual boardroom table. Video screens enable the full table to be brought into view from fixed cameras. Desktop document cameras display spreadsheets on screen. Control / editing of these "realtime" video productions is via the executives' touch-screen control unit, which looks like a notebook computer. These facilities open to the comer of the building, which peers down the harbour toward the Sydney Heads - a perfect place for corporate networking before going on-line to Atlanta.
Discretion is obviously important in this environment of information security. Small phone booths with exquisite upholstered seats offer an acoustically isolated spot to discuss the deal on the table with one's most remote associates.
Boral required that where possible their own products be used. Stone came from the Melocco division: Wombeyan stone was used in the foyer while a South Australian black granite was used on the floors and steps. Plantation eucalyptus provided the material for the veneer, putting a green face on the office.
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