Woods Bagot has completed DLA Piper’s new Brisbane premises, creating a collegiate workplace environment that encourages collaboration and fosters ease of connection between clients and colleagues alike. Supporting a balance between focused work and increased connection, the work spaces have been designed to accommodate the changing nature of legal work, staff agility and integrated technology.DLA Piper approached its Brisbane relocation as an opportunity to again work with Woods Bagot to further evolve its workplace objectives that had been established in the recently completed Melbourne and Sydney fit-outs.
Following the success of projects delivered in both Sydney and Melbourne, Woods Bagot and DLA Piper workshopped global benchmarking and emerging trends within the legal sector to ensure all possibilities were considered. Concepts developed out of these sessions helped to create a design rationale that was centred on team connection as well as flexibility over time. Woods Bagot Workplace Interiors Sector Leader in Brisbane, Sally Macnaughton said the firm had transitioned towards a forward-thinking learning landscape that blended confidentiality with flexibility and efficiency. Moving from a two floor disconnected tenancy to a large single floor plate, the design concept was developed around providing a series of neighbourhoods to ensure the fit-out was legible on a human scale.
With staff now co-located on one level, breaking down the vast scale was achieved by the detailing of ceiling elements and integrated planting to maintain a sense of visual and physical connectivity throughout the scheme. A menu of spaces tailored to the firm’s client interactions and staff needs, establish physical and visual linkages while ensuring acoustic separation. The central breakout zone is a true retreat but remains visually connected to the work areas via curved glazed arches. The palette of the client entry and meeting spaces include intentional links to the global design aesthetic of the firm, while simultaneously respond to the site and regional context, communicating a distinctly Queensland feel.
The client journey from lifts to key views was particularly important and is guided by a continuous curved wall which features an abstracted pattern of the Story Bridge beyond. Travertine, French navy carpets, brass and bronze glass form the foundations of the scheme. Bespoke handmade elements such as the brass arbours and leather screens add a level of detailed sophistication and warmth to both client and staff zones. The Brisbane project provided an opportunity to further develop the DLA Piper brand via an evolution of the design requirements in a result that is has responded to the needs of the firm now and into the future. Source by Woods Bagot.
- Location: Level 9, 480 Queen Street, Brisbane, Australia
- Architects: Woods Bagot
- Collaborators: project commenced at Geyer, completed by Woods Bagot
- Design Leader: Sally Macnaughton
- Client: DLA Piper
- Area: 2800m2
- Completion date: March 2016
- Photographs: Christopher Frederick Jones, Courtesy of Woods Bagot