Award of Merit:

Design Paper for South32 Singapore

Who We Are
DesignPaper, has at it’s nucleus a core team of creative professionals who are some of the most experienced in Australia. Each member of the team contributes to a diversity of skills including Corporate, Industrial Design, Hospitality and Retail Design. Co-creation with allied design professionals is openly encouraged to achieve the ultimate outcome for our clients. 

Understanding Our Clients
DesignPaper recognises the growing importance of workplace Ecology and it’s place in the environment. Our aim is to facilitate the rapidly evolving ways in which people and organisations work sustainably. Australian organisations are increasingly being compared and ranked internationally through certifications such as WELL Building Standard and Green-star, and informally through Social media. These factors are contributing significantly to attraction and retention of the best talent. DesignPaper also understand that the core human needs of belonging and connection are important Business Drivers. Whilst connection and mobility are facilitated by advances in technology, interacting at a human level will be vital for the organisation and individual. As an ecology of relationships, friendships and social interactions, office environments require a variety of work settings which supports them with the right infrastructure so that users should feel that the space is theirs. DesignPaper methodology includes establishing a clear Client Brief, observation, empathy and application of evidence based Design principles. 

At DesignPaper, we believe every project should have it’s own voice and speak clearly and eloquently about the people using it. Capturing the essence of a company effortlessly is the Hallmark of a great Design.

About the Project

In 2019 South32 reviewed its accommodation strategy in their current headquarters using a Listening, Learning and Evolving methodology. Three aspirational pillars which will shape the new future workplace for South32 emerged from this exercise, being Lifestyle, Connectivity and Flexibility. Level 42, 108 St Georges Terrace was chosen to prototype elements of this new workplace direction, focussing creating a new inclusive environment for South32, spaces which balance the digital mind with the analogue heart and relax the emotional barrier between work and life. The evidence-based results of this prototypical space were ultimately influential on how South32 approached the design of the new Singapore workplace which coincided with the pandemic. The pandemic had turned notions of normality upside down. Employees were encouraged to learn new behaviours, adopt new technologies and adjust to new ways of working. 

Staff engagement surveys by South32 demonstrated that a flexible hybrid workplace would underpin a significant reduction in leased space. However, it was very clear that employees were seeking a connected work experience in which space and technology are interwoven to deliver focussed work and enhance collaboration. Along the theme of “a workplace with heart” the new office within Income at Raffles is designed to be a hybrid workplace with a creative mix of ways people can meaningfully engage and work with their peers in different modes and settings. Anticipating the future, South32 have downsized the office though creation of non-assigned team bases replacing permanently assigned workstations. However, the office is carefully designed so users of the space should feel as if the workplace is theirs. Engendering a sense of community meant ensuring the office environment offered a variety of settings and opportunities for serendipitous interchanges, so that connection can manifest itself as the exchange of knowledge on a human level, which is vital to both the individual and South32. 

Furniture and fittings may be described as “Loose Fit” so that the tenancy can absorb future change. Whilst “Loose Fit” doesn’t necessarily mean “modular”, it does mean that there is minimal custom built-in joinery. Access to daylight and views is prioritised around fixed elements along with appropriate placement of amenities in relation to the building core and perimeter. 

Whilst South32’s workplace continues to full fil its role as a business and social centre, technology advancements, mobility and connectivity have enabled the creation of a truly hybrid workplace that can flex with future changes within the business.

Category: Place

Designers and Project Team:
Camila Giacoia - Project Design Lead
David Rey - Support designer and project delivery
Stephen McDonnell - Documentation design + support
Kim Thornton-Smith - Sketch planning