The modern ways we work
Two buildings, two different takes on working life.
Modern working practices have taken different directions in two new Tauranga buildings, as the city’s central business district gets a makeover.
The first is a new six-storey commercial and retail complex on the corner of Cameron Rd and Third Ave.
The $40 million office building will span almost 7800 square metres and caters for some 600 office workers.
It’s a joint project by local landholder Manor Group TGA and Auckland-based developer/ investor Watts Group Investments and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
Tauranga’s CBD has more demand for prime commercial space than it can meet, but instead of improving secondary space, developers are choosing to build new.
Central to the Cameron Rd building is a focus on co-working, with shared front-of-house areas such as meeting rooms, seminar rooms and break-out spaces for staff.
One and a half floors have already been leased to a government department under a confidentiality agreement.
The target market for the remaining space will be creative companies or small professional firms.
‘‘Typically these businesses have 10-30 staff and have found it difficult to secure internationalquality space at competitive leasing rates,’’ Bayleys Tauranga broker Lloyd Davidson said.
Davidson said shared space was still a bit of a novel concept in Tauranga.
‘‘There is no need to have six lunch rooms or 12 meeting rooms on one floor for six tenants, for example,’’ he said.
‘‘This practice significantly reduces their per square metre tenancy rate, but at the same time increases the access to more space.’’
Another new building in Tauranga with an innovative take on working life is the recently opened Trustpower building in Durham St.
It features the increasingly popular ‘‘ABW’’ or ‘‘activity based working’’ environment, which gives workers a greater variety of spaces.
The 6900sqm building was designed by Wingate and Farquhar, with Warren & Mahoney designing the interior, after Trustpower, a growing utility company, decided it no longer wanted to be on the outskirts of town.
Now occupied by 525 people, the 6900sqm building has no offices – not even for the chief executive.
The heart of the building is a large atrium which provides a lot of natural light and provides a visual connection between the three floors.
Colour helps staff find their way around.
‘‘People don’t need to sit at a fixed desk,’’ David Giera, of Warren & Mahoney, said.
‘‘At any given time, you’ll only find 70 per cent of staff are in a building at one time.’’