The brief was to reinforce Hall Chadwick’s culture, provide a workspace that was flexible enough to support their evolving operational needs, and a space that their clients felt comfortable visiting, that wasn’t ostentatious.
Stepping out of the lift into the entry foyer, the Hall Chadwick story immediately starts to unfold. Considered materials and a warm colour palette are indeed reminiscent of Western Queensland, including reddish timbers, charcoal colorbond vertical panels, warm greys, and rust. And what rural Queensland space would be complete without a cow hide rug! Moving from the foyer through a narrowing entry into the reception area, the desk is clad with sage tiles inspired by corrugated sheets.
The space opens up into a casual client waiting lounge with a 4.8 m high ceiling. Wrapping around the waiting lounge are client meeting rooms, a boardroom and a training room.
Floor tiles in a basket weave pattern provide wayfinding reminiscent of red dirt.
The ‘red dirt’ path traverses the waiting lounge to the boardroom and training room, with their heavy barn-style, sliding doors.
The boardroom, with its handsome pitched barn roof, has been designed to be like a rural “building” within the space.
VJ boards nod to traditional Queenslander architectural vernacular, however the view of neighbouring highrise buildings and the office furniture clearly position the “barn” within the Brisbane CBD. The impressive timber truss ceiling extends out into the client waiting lounge, creating engaging interior views and continuity within the larger workspace.
Beyond the client waiting lounge, the staircase forms a transition point between the client space and the staff café.
Centrally located, the staircase encourages movement between the floors drawn by the café and client-facing spaces on level 3.
The café’s large perimeter windows offer views down bustling Queen Street and flood the space with natural light. Solid timber furniture, refined upholstered seating featuring horse bit buckles, staggered pendant lights, and a stone top kitchen bar create a relaxed, modern restaurant vibe suitable for a broad range of uses: a relaxing alternative work space for staff, a casual meeting place with clients, a function space for events, and of course, Friday drinks.
Climbing the industrial-style staircase to level 4 you are welcomed into the heart of the working floor.
Here a communal centre provides staff with collaboration spaces, a utility/print area and tea points, encouraging activity and informal communicative opportunities.
Collaborative spaces extend off the communal centre. Their positioning in public areas encourage knowledge sharing between departments and informal contributions from passing staff. The workstations are fanned around the curved perimeter of the building, with offices stacked back off windows so natural light can penetrate deep into the floor plate without obstruction.
Work stations are all electronically height adjustable and media spaces at the end of workstations offer progressive technology, empowering teams to come together to view, share and discuss spreadsheets on a larger screen.
Finally, a quiet library space sits behind the stair void, its rustic tones and textures offering a peaceful work environment away from the desk with views up Queen Street. The triangulated timber ceiling echoes the entry foyer on Level 3, bringing the Hall Chadwick workplace story full circle.
