PROJECTS
Department of Prime Minister
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The Mission of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet is to contribute to the good governance of Australia by supporting the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in the effective development and delivery of policy across the whole of government.
To achieve that goal by demonstrating excellence in leadership in the Australian Public Service.
Background
The Department previously occupied 11,367m2 (Net Lettable Area) at 3-5 National Circuit Barton in close proximity to Parliament House and other key policy departments.
The old location had reached capacity in terms of the number of occupants and due to the design of the building there is no more scope to reengineer space to accommodate the required future staffing levels of the department. The efficiency ratio of
usable floor space is significantly lower than that of comparable modern buildings. The building does not meet security requirements and is bisected by a roadway.
The design of the building is one of layers from the ground floor up, leaving overhangs between the floors (a security risk) and the layout has load bearing columns interspersed throughout the floorplate (which restricts flexibility).
The increasing responsibilities being assigned to PM&C places increasing demands on current accommodation. Over the past five
years, PM&C has hosted a total of 55 Task Forces and we anticipate that this demand will continue. The hosting of Task Force activity, the creation of the National Security Division and the department’s broader Cabinet support role with the establishment of the Cabinet Implementation Unit have all had to be accommodated in this ageing building.
Each time PM&C has received funding for additional permanent staff or task force supplementation, funding has been agreed at marginal costs. No additional funding has been allowed for accommodating extra staff. The building was originally configured for
350 staff and currently houses 450 with resulting negative impacts on performance and staff amenity.
Proposed Outcome
Purpose built, flexible use accommodation is considered essential to ensure that PM&C can meet its ongoing obligations in an efficient and cost effective manner. While arrangements will be put in place on an adhoc basis pending a long-term solution, these arrangements do not provide value for money. In addition, it is sensible to build in sufficient redundancy in this requirement to absorb future peaks in task force activity. Staying in this building beyond lease expiry would require substantial investment and considerable dislocation and disruption as essential refurbishments take place.
The building is located at 1 National Circuit on the corner of Kings Avenue and National Circuit is on the edge of the Parliamentary zone and only a short distance from Parliament House.
1 National Circuit provides PM&C with 15,050m2 of net lettable area over 5 floors. The large floor plates will provide PM&C with
flexibility and superior efficiencies.
The building will be premium quality with leading edge design and superior finishes. The development will include many environmental initiatives such as:
• The use of low embodied energy building materials;
• Use of natural light distribution through the narrow design of the building; and
• Very high efficiency lighting system with individual photo-electric sensors and waste water recycling.
The location of the site was decided based on key criteria to the operational needs of the department:
a) A purposed designed building on a greenfield site;
b) Proximity to Parliament House and other policy departments;
c) Increased physical security capabilities;
d) The size of the building to accommodate the department over the term of the lease and provide flexibility for the various
functions the department is required to perform; and
e) The occupational health and safety of staff and visitors to the department.
The department moved into its new premises at One National Circut on 16 February 2007.
The new building offices will contribute significantly to improving the Departments efficiency.
The building was built to accommodate our specific business needs. It has more conference rooms, a variety of break-out areas, facilities for nursing mothers and an in-house cafeteria open to the public from early morning.
The new building was also designed with suffi cient space to accommodate a number of temporary taskforces operating simultaneously. In 2007 this included approximately 50 staff from the APEC Taskforce as well as other staff engaged in taskforce activity.
One National Circuit has five floors of flexible office space and a car park with a capacity for 326 cars. The car park has been a major improvement for staff. Since not everyone can fit in the car park, our consultative committee guided a process in which
it was decided to give people access to car parking based on their length of service in PM&C.
We take pride in being green. One National Circuit has high thermal efficiency features. It has doubleglazing, rain water recycling for irrigation and toilet flushing, and recyclable carpets. Landscaping features plants that are both indigenous to our local area and drought resistant. We have a strong regime to maximise recycling of varieties of office waste. emerge. As always, the main requirement has been to provide timely advice or services as the Prime Minister needs them. Some of this preparedness comes from the flexibility of our own internal arrangements. We have staff able to work easily across organisational demarcations. Often, however, we have to bring in people from other agencies to meet unexpected exigencies.
Taskforces are an ever-more-important component of how we work. They are temporary groups working on a nominated cross-government priority on which key resources are focused. They are usually short-term in nature and provide a mechanism for
delivering wide-ranging policy advice to the Prime Minister in an expeditious manner.
There are two important ways in which our department is designed to accommodate taskforces. First, built into our baseline funding are appropriations that are to be used for their initial establishment and corporate costs. Second, our new building provides us with the space to host these taskforces within the department. The work areas for taskforces are configured differently from areas for our ongoing staff.
They can be set up—with all the necessary IT and communications facilities—within 24 hours of a taskforce being commissioned by
the government. The APEC Taskforce has been our most changing
One National Circuit was designed to achieve a 4.5 star energy rating in accordance with the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating scheme.
They used a green lease schedule to improve and manage our energy efficiency and make us accountable for our energy consumption.
One National Circuit incorporates many environmental initiatives, such as the use of building materials produced by energy efficient means. It was designed to reduce greenhouse emissions. Its energy saving features include:
• building orientation and a narrow footprint to maximise the penetration of natural daylight and to minimise the use of artificial light
• thermal mass for heat retention and cold reduction
• intelligent lighting and air-conditioning technology to minimise energy consumption and operating costs
• double glazing and tinted glass, and
• a Building Management System that controls, monitors and manages equipment in the building, including lighting and air-conditioning, to minimise energy consumption.
During the construction of the building, staff were consulted extensively on the fit-out and design of the work spaces and were kept informed of progress with the construction through our intranet, staff emails and a dedicated notice board. Staff were also given the opportunity to inspect the building during the final stages of construction.
The building has 21 formal meeting spaces which are very important both to our internal coordination and meetings.
In addition, there is a large amenities area on the ground floor with standing room sufficient for an all-staff meeting.
Workpoints will be based on individual modular workstations that preserve views and light penetration into the building.
Workstations more efficiently cater for the installation and operation of new technologies. They significantly utilise the floor areas more effectively and will create opportunities for accommodating additional facilities such as open meeting areas and common spaces.
The PM&C project team liaised closely with departmental occupational health and safety officers and working groups to ensure
that the fitout design complied with the relevant codes.
Characteristics of the proposed work space are :
• Modular workpoints that provide functional support, storage and a level of privacy.
• Low profile to preserve views.
• Feeling of light, airy, healthy openness.
• Capacity for visual variation.
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