PODCAST: How Melbourne’s coffee, art and culture inspired one of the city’s most celebrated offices

How do you capture the urban fabric of global city in a corporate office while simultaneously creating a place that resonates strongly enough with staff to make them want to be there, for them to have productive conversations that are both structured and spontaneous or even to comfortably not talk to anyone if that’s what they need? Can the same place dial up the experience if that’s how some get their best work done?

This, and more, constitute the mammoth list of considerations that have been realised at JLL’s Melbourne office, widely thought to have set a new benchmark in the city, and even nationally, for office design and functionality.

“We were very careful in designing something that actually resonated with who is going to work in this office,” said JLL’s national practice manager for design, Jennifer Moore, speaking on the Perspectives podcast. “The whole concept was original to JLL in terms of where we sit in the overall building, what we are as a business and who we are as people. I think if you do that deep research and dive into a company and come up with a concept that resonates with them as the correct strategy for how they need to work, it will stand the test of time.”

The shape of the office was created by overlaying Melbourne’s city layout, the Hoddle Grid, onto the footprint of 101 Collins, the office’s address, and rotating it 45 degrees.

“This beautiful diamond approach to the floor meant that we weren’t creating unnecessary corridors,” said Alana Hannaford, JLL’s head of PDS advisory in Australia, also speaking on the Perspectives podcast. “It has given us additional pockets of space, beautiful natural light, and a journey for staff to take where visibility and connection is amplified.”

 JLL’s Melbourne workforce was consulted throughout the design and fit-out process on everything from the type of office chairs they would use, to the names of meeting rooms, and the brand of beer that would be served from the in-office beer taps.

Infusing the story of Melbourne and JLL’s culture was also a key part of the design strategy, Hannaford said.

“The design team explored what it means to be located at the Paris end of Collins Street and Flinders Lane which has a rich history embedded in the rag trade, while at the same time capturing those deeply Melbourne characteristics of coffee, arts and culture.”

Hear more from Hannaford and Moore about the strategy, design and build of JLL’s benchmark-setting Melbourne office on the Perspectives podcast here.