New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 30/12 | Page 91

Top left:Areas adjacent to the
atrium and staircase act as
breakout spaces and include
pantry facilities.
Lower left:The abundance
of open collaboration spaces
throughout the building
encourages staff to work
together across organisational
boundaries.
Below:Circular meeting rooms
mark the transition between
office and breakout areas.
Curved sliding doors open up the
room or close it down for privacy.

research laboratories to training rooms and offices.
“These were to house an army of engineers,
researchers and scientists who develop beauty, hair
and skin products,” he says.
But instead of splitting these functions into
separate wings, lab and office space was allocated
to each floor. The lab areas were internalised in the
building core, while the open-plan work areas were
placed around the perimeter.
“This open and flexible plan contributed to the
innovative thrust by encouraging creative collaboration among P&G staff,” says Drogemuller.
The biggest challenge in creating this open
workspace was taking standard workstations and
customising them to meet specific requirements.
For example, much time was spent designing the
partitioning between the labs and workspaces.
These needed to provide storage for products and

be very durable, yet still allow maximum connection
and visibility between the areas.
For P&G, the centre presented an opportunity
to demonstrate that the company is at the leading
edge of modern office workplace strategy.
“As well as having open workspaces, the desks
are not assigned,” says Drogemuller. “Staff have
lockers where they can store personal items,
but they don’t have a fixed workstation. When they
arrive, they log in, choose a desk and the phone
system automatically connects them to that
workspace.”
This gives workers the flexibility to work in
positions most suited to their roles on a daily basis,
or to form new teams for collaborative work, without having to make changes to the desking.
Probably the building’s most impressive feature
is its main staircase, located in the heart of the

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