Creating Carpe Diem
Carpe Diem at Barangaroo Tower 2, Sydney by International Towers and Geyer
Words Photography
High up in Tower Two International Towers is a new, connected two-level workplace curated for the needs of a neglected sector of the business community. It is the brainchild of Liam Timms, International Towers’ fund manager, developed in collaboration with Geyer partner, Robyn Lindsey. “I looked at the market,” he says, “and it had a gap of quality where there was a lot of very average product for established businesses of 20-50 people.”
It is a part of the market, he explains, that has a lot of very talented people who have started their own businesses. But they are fully established, not start-ups. The start-ups, Timms points out, “will go and chase the co-working”. But these small-to-medium-sized established businesses often find themselves “in these awful white plasterboard boxes where someone has very crudely carved a floor and done a very low-end job and thrown a few primary colours around to make it look attractive”.
The big end of town, because of its scale, can afford the gyms, wellness rooms, parent rooms, fancy boardrooms, etcetera, which serve to attract the best talent. But the smaller businesses have to compromise. They need a meeting room, but can’t afford a wellness space. So, Timms put himself in their shoes to establish what facilities they would need to support themselves. “How could we scale a shared economy,” he says, “a shared facility arrangement between a bunch of high-performing, talented, diverse businesses and give them the best in business facilities?”
The result is a community of 10 tenancies, each with its own dedicated space, but with an amazing range of shared facilities.
Timms gives the example of the Green Building Council of Australia, the first to move in. It has only 300-square-metres of dedicated space, but it shares 500-square-metres of activity space (various kinds of meeting and work rooms) and another 500-squaremetres of public or community space – a wellbeing room, a parents’ room, four kitchens (including a commercial kitchen for large functions), four print rooms, a 20-person boardroom and various informal meeting areas. Each of the tenancies’ interiors is 6 Star Green Star rated. All of this, he says, “goes to them being able to build their own brand recognition with their own customers”.
Timms points out that International Towers delivers the space complete, including an Australian Good Design award-winning technology platform to bring it all together, enabling spaces to be booked either off their phone or off their screen. “All they have to bring with them is their laptop computer,” he says.
This new concept is indeed driven by the notion of community – not just because of the shared facilities, but by virtue of the way the 2500-square-metres floorplates have been planned. Connection is the key. There is nowhere on the floorplate where you can’t see out to the amazing view of Sydney Harbour. Tenancies and the various ‘analogue’ and ‘analytical’ activity spaces are defined by fully glazed walls and nothing is built to the perimeter. Timms points out that part of the psychology of the space is that nobody owns the perimeter – not even the boardroom.
The idea is to drive a sense of connection. “Shared views, shared light and a shared subconscious idea of a better community,” says Timms. “When you encourage connection, you encourage better outcomes for people.”
One of the master strokes is the 100 per cent Indigenous greenery throughout, including the lift lobbies. There is vertical hanging greenery throughout, but also horizontal hanging greenery running at ceiling height. This offsets any sense of hardness from the glazing, but also softens the space and mediates the glazed connections between businesses, creating a soft, dappled light.
The other master stroke is the Companionway, the direct link between the two levels. “I didn’t want to see another staircase,” says Timms. “I wanted to create a proper connection.” He has borrowed the nautical expression because, on a boat, the companionway connects the upper and lower levels. And, he points out not only is it the safest part of a boat, it is also the place where you put someone new because they can see everything from the Companionway. “It’s where all the cross-over happens,” he says.
It is really an open connection with astonishing views of Darling Harbour and beyond to the Blue Mountains. Beautifully crafted, it is not meant to be a workspace (there is no power support for laptops), but a public meeting place either at an intimate level or for presentations. All the flat surfaces are timber, while the verticals are glass with anodised connector fittings. Oriented south-west, the light is perfectly modulated, supporting the warmth of the materials and the crafted curves of the balustrading and platform edges.
The overall mood is one of togetherness. The transparency never threatens with a sense of invaded privacy, but really does promote a feeling of connection. Thoughtful planning across the floorplate, along with art exhibitions, greenery, small nooks and a sprinkling of semi-private meeting areas ensure a mood which is relaxed and connected, but without ever feeling over-exposed.