Genuinely different: How Arup’s new Brisbane workplace is changing the future of work
Arup’s new workplace on Yuggera and Turrbal Country, Brisbane, Australia, explores new territory in sustainable office environments for a hybrid-working world.
Underpinned by Hassell’s latest global research — which points to the need for fewer desks and more group settings for quiet focus and knowledge sharing — our new workplace design for global sustainable development firm Arup will cater to a hybrid workforce, support productive collaboration and bring transparency to the company’s inner workings.
The bespoke fit-out currently under construction by Buildcorp brings together a design ‘super team’, including Hassell’s workplace designers, workplace strategists FreeState, First Nations designers Blaklash, circularity consultants Five Mile Radius, and branding, design, and wayfinding experts Studio Ongarato. The design team will work alongside Arup’s own sustainability consultants, landscape designers, and engineers.
While showcasing the company’s latest technology, alongside the imagination and rigour of Arup’s Brisbane workforce, the project is also on track to be recognised by the Living Building Challenge, the most advanced global measure of sustainability in the built environment.
“Our new workplace strengthens Arup’s mission to inspire new knowledge and innovation. It will be a place where everyone can do their best work, where community and Country are embedded, and where protecting the natural environment is central to every decision made.”
— Lloyd Twomey, Queensland Leader at Arup
HIGH AMBITIONS, LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT
Celebrating Arup’s culture of curiosity and commitment to regenerative design, the workplace minimises construction waste and environmental impact. The fit-out inside the existing 123 Albert Street office building in Brisbane’s CBD utilises existing base-building finishes and repurposes waste materials, including stone, metal and timber extensively sourced by Five Mile Radius. All materials and products have been scrutinised for recycled content and embodied carbon composition.
Hassell principal Carolyn Solley says the project sets a new benchmark for engaging a circular economy. Materials are sourced from demolition sites across the city and repurposed in inventive ways.
“The design of Arup, Brisbane, goes far beyond a physical expression of a contemporary workplace. It synthesises Arup’s organisational values, environmental commitment, and unique culture.”
— Carolyn Solley, Principal
FROM CREEK COUNTRY TO SKY COUNTRY
While enabling staff to work as collaboratively and effectively as possible, the workplace design is layered with meaning and purpose. First Nations designer Blaklash generously shared cultural knowledge to inform the spatial strategy and how Aboriginal cultural practice can be embedded in elements such as burnished timber finishes and integrated artwork. Workplace neighbourhoods within the interior space and journeys throughout the building are informed by First Nations concepts of local Brisbane Creek Country and Sky Country to reinforce the importance of history, storytelling, nature and community.
ELEVATING NATURE
With views to the outside, plentiful natural daylight and indoor planting interlaced throughout, the workplace interior is embedded with concepts of nature from the region’s local ecology to enhance the well-being of staff and visitors. A central forum encourages conversation, knowledge-sharing and debate in the heart of the workplace, while dispersed areas for meetings and collaboration bring variety and choice to the workday. The project celebrates Arup’s diversity of disciplines and people with a workplace ecosystem that aims to build deeper connections and reflect the stories, histories and sensibilities unique to this subtropical corner of the world.
Arup’s new workplace is due for completion in early 2025.
