Generator Britomart Place Coworking Offices – Auckland

Firm
  • Client Generator,
  • size 32,000 sqft
  • Year 2018
  • Location Auckland, New Zealand,
  • Industry Coworking,
  • CPRW has created a design for the new Generator coworking offices at Britomart Place located in Auckland, New Zealand.

    CPRW were asked to support the continued growth of the Generator brand through the repurposing, repositioning, and regeneration of almost 3,000m2 spread over 3 contiguous floors of Auckland CBD workspace.

    We facilitated this through the design of a unique, premium coworking environment, a new level of sophistication and user experience in an increasingly competitive sector, populated by a variety of providers and offerings.

    Generator Britomart Place (GBP) needed to provide the level of agility and flexibility necessary to support a diverse range of residents and external users, while remaining true to the co-working ethos.

    GBP encourages and supports a community culture through a variety of blended settings, whether they be for focussed or informal business meetings, social gatherings, functions, a quiet drink, or a meal while enjoying the harbour views from one of the expansive terraces.

    GBP also wished to maintain an aesthetic and cultural connection to Generator Stanbeth House, the spiritual home and HQ of all things Generator. However, GBP should be somewhere that residents of other Generator sites (such as Stanbeth House or Madden Street) can aspire to as part of their own organisational growth.

    Our first reaction was to step back and take a few deep breaths. Mindfulness in the workplace!

    The top 3 floors (levels 10, 11, and 12) of 11 Britomart Place, just off Takutai Square, was originally designed for a financial services sector tenant, who had vacated and left their hard fit out almost 100% intact.

    This inherited fit out was a very corporate and highly cellular workspace, but it did have the benefit of a tenant circulation stair connecting all 3 contiguous floors.

    Along with our client Generator, we saw many benefits (including; environmental, timeframe, and commercial) in identifying where existing hard fit out elements could be retained and augmented as part of any new hard fit out, whilst still satisfying the functional brief requirements.

    A diverse palette of new materials and finishes was employed throughout. This includes solid oak flooring, recycled fishing nets (now carpet tiles), bespoke leather and timber wall panels, bronze tinted mirrors, acoustic ceilings, hanging gardens, and an eclectic mix of soft fit out items.

    The project team had just over 7 months to design, document, build, and commission the new Generator Britomart Place fit out. During this time Generator were also securing new tenants and finalising lease agreements for GBP, so design & planning changes were being accommodated by the wider project team almost up until occupation.

    We utilised Virtual Reality throughout the design process to assist and inform both planning and aesthetic related decisions with the client. This also enabled the Generator Marketing and Sales team to give prospective residents an exciting taste of their future workplace via a virtual tour.

    DesignerCPRW
    Design Team: David Morgan, Luciano Velocci, Lena Zarazel, Sophie Isler, Sarah Townshend, Dhruti Rathod, Drazen Opacic, Mike Lowe
    Photography: Samuel Hartnett