“CBRE’s new workplace (Sydney) goes beyond ABW (Activity Based Working)…it’s a tailored, real-world solution which acknowledges what people actually do in the workplace…and delivers a unique environment that combines a sophisticated business approach with a contemporary lifestyle flavor.”

– John Andreas, Director, WMK Architecture

Donn, the principal of  Electrolight NSW, the lighting designers engaged on this project, enthused :

“The brief for the lighting of CBRE was delightfully elastic, WMK asked to ‘make it unlike an office foyer, more … hospitality than you would tend to expect.’ We took this thought and applied an approach which introduced warmth and depth.”

WMK’s concept was to transform the usual typology of an office to devise a new type of work space, and create their public areas in tune with the warm, luxurious feel of a premium hotel or club.

“The design concept draws on the juxtaposition of human form within the built environment, softening the hard edges of the existing building typology with a language of curves and folds which are at once organic and architectural,” explains Andreas.

This, Donn adds, was where Electrolight worked with WMK to “peel back the finishes, pressing outward and pulling inwards to provide a silky organic glow through openings in the ceiling and walls.  Slot details, curved coves and trimless plaster body luminaires meld with the softness of the lighting.”

This project truly articulates the synergy light and architecture should have – to become one with the discourse and fabric of the architectural environment.

Products Used: FLOS SOFT ARCHITECTURE LINEAR PROFILE, OLUCE CANOPY, REGGIANI DOWNLIGHTS

Photography by Marcus Clinton Photography