JLL moves to new Melbourne office

Until moving into our new office in 2024, our Melbourne team had been operating from two adjoining floors at 101 Collins, Melbourne, plus a third floor elsewhere in the building. The set up was not ideal – certainly not conducive to business collaboration - but a period of expansion for our business had forced our hand.

Meanwhile, the standard for corporate real estate was elevating. Amid hybrid work and the growing emphasis on ESG, offices had shifted focus towards attracting workers, facilitating collaboration, supporting diverse work styles and people, and promoting wellness and sustainability.

JLL was changing too. In 2021, we made a commitment as a global business to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Our offices had a huge role to play in getting us there.

With all of this, change for our Melbourne office beckoned. It was 2022 and though we still had two years on our lease, serendipity, combined with the skillful negotiations of our tenant representation team took us to the starting line for our new workplace, remaining in 101 Collins. With plans to become fully electrified, this historic, and iconic building was one of the few in Melbourne that could stand up to our net zero journey.

As workplace specialists, the capability to design, build and project manage our new purpose-built office existed within our own organisation. Our office's focus on collaboration, experience, wellness and sustainability would draw on the skills and expertise we had in-house – specifically, our tenant representation, project and development services, design, workplace strategy and change management, workplace experience, technology, and sustainability services teams.

The plan was to consolidate into two floors at 101 Collins – 32 and 33 – increasing our footprint by 20% to 3,660 square metres and creating an exemplar of the modern office. This would be an office where our people wanted to be, where they could work effectively, be happy to bring their clients, and show it off to their friends.

An aspirational briefing document compiled by our workplace strategy team and project steering committee was informed by utilisation insights in our old office space, staff feedback, and interviews and workshops with our executives. It combined with our conceptual goals to guide the project.

“We leveraged JLL’s global requirements, and learnings from our new Sydney office, but then said, ‘how do we create that truly Melbourne opportunity?’” said Alana Hannaford,” JLL’s Head of Advisory, Project and Development Services, who led the workplace strategy.

The office is a celebration of Melbourne and the city’s urban fabric. We took a unique approach to the floorplan, overlaying Melbourne’s city grid, the Hoddle grid, conceived by the surveyor Robert Hoddle in 1837, onto the building’s footprint and rotating it 45 degrees to achieve a layout that emphasises functional pockets of space connected by clear pathways. A sculptural staircase connects the two floors. Sweeping views of the city, bay and sporting precinct can be taken in from almost every window.

Our new office takes into consideration the various work preferences of our employees, balancing the need for collaboration and focus work with a range of spaces. Along with workstations and meeting rooms, there are break-out spaces for impromptu conversations, quiet-work ‘libraries’ on each floor and phone booths for privacy on demand.

We profiled our service line teams and categorised them. We grouped them into ‘teamers’ – people who bounce ideas around their desks; ‘Collaborators’ – workers who attend meetings a lot; ‘Focus workers’; And ‘connectors’ – employees who come into the office to have coffee and connect. This helped us determine where to 'home' our teams.

We’ve learned from the growth of hybrid working that on-demand focus spaces are as critical as open spaces to connect, collaborate and allow the JLL culture to thrive.

“We know that people come to the office for human connection, however 50% of our time is spent doing focused work. Delivering high quality tech, ergonomics and spaces for focus on demand was important to get right” said Hannaford.

For every nine work points, our office provides one enclosed space for focus work, which was enabled by the ‘diamond’ floor plan.

A flexible business lounge provides a dedicated area for us to engage with clients and partners and can be converted into an enclosed event space or dining room, with the furniture easily rearranged.

Our approach to the types of desks required was to look at the diversity of needs. Spaces, including phone booths, library zones, fixed desks, and touchdown points are classified as either long-stay, medium-stay, or short-stay desks. Each have varying levels of ergonomic adjustment.

A concierge desk and IT support desk provide a frictionless workplace experience for our staff.

Crucially, our workplace is welcoming, safe and accessible. Extensive Consultation with our diversity and inclusion committee resulted in spaces to support our diverse workforce. These include all-gender bathrooms and inclusive signage, low-lit areas and spaces for quiet work for neurodivergent staff, a multifaith prayer room, a parents or first aid room, and an ‘oasis’ room for short respite during the day.

Floor-to-ceiling mirrors in the bathrooms, disability-compliant bathroom sinks, and a halal microwave are among other diversity considerations.

We’ve embraced Melbourne’s famous coffee culture with an in-house barista serving complimentary brews as you enter on level 33. It’s one of the many places for JLL staff and clients to connect and caffeinate.

From here, the staircase leads to another area for staff to converge: the town hall and main breakout space. Having this space to lunch together and socialise is integral to JLL’s workplace culture and sense of community. Beer taps are activated for staff drinks and client events.

Our new office is undoubtedly future-focused, but we also wanted to pay homage to the history of 101 Collins and its surrounds. The building is located on one side amid the elegance of Collins Street, and on the other side, the dynamism of Flinders Lane – home to Melbourne’s clothing industry in the 1900s, affectionately referred to as the rag trade. The two concepts are reflected in our office’s warm and refined palette and contrasting edgy finishes in cool tones.

“From planning the design, right through to selecting the finishes, we were working within the context of Melbourne’s diverse urban fabric and JLL’s diverse cultural fabric and trying to find a thread through both of them,” said Jen Moore, Senior Director for JLL’s Design Services, who had oversight of the office design.

This design story is echoed throughout the office, from the commissioned artworks from local creators, down to the naming of our meeting rooms. We have 19 meeting rooms, many named after buildings established during the rag trade, as well as Melbourne’s public gardens.

Caption: First Nations artist Lisa Waup in front of the commissioned artwork she created for JLL called 'Coming Together'. Learn more about her artmaking process here

The rag trade story is also more subtly reflected in the design of the office’s furniture upholstery.

The sustainability initiatives in our Melbourne office are aligned to the requirements for achieving 6-star Green Star, and WELL Platinum, certifications – the highest that can be achieved for both.

Our office is powered by 100% renewable energy, but we’ll only use the energy we need. Sensors throughout the office control the lighting as well as capture data on how and when people are using spaces.

Air quality and temperature are also captured by sensors and adjusted in real time as needed.

During the construction of our office, 92% of waste was recycled, supported by materials being delivered in minimal packaging.

Our build focused on supporting local businesses and incorporating Australian-made products. We looked further afield only where local options did not meet our sustainability targets, design standards or functional requirements.

Our new workplace combines and manifests so much of what is great and exciting about JLL and Melbourne. It provides us opportunities to share knowledge, work together and showcase our leadership in shaping the future of real estate for our people and clients.

Colleagues who only knew each other by video call – despite being in the same building – are having conversations in the coffee lounge. These are connections that will ultimately benefit our clients.

There is a great sense of appreciation about the effort that has gone into creating diverse spaces.

“Coming together in our beautiful new office has forged a new connection across our teams,” said Kate Pilgrim, Managing Director of JLL Victoria. “It’s been a great way to create community and belonging for our people, both on and offsite at JLL, and I look forward to nurturing our talent in this beautiful space.”