Cerebos Gregg’s moved from an industrial site in East Tamaki into the historic AEPB building in Newmarket. The move is an important cultural shift, enabling the team to be under one roof, and to be 100% open plan. It is also seen as a big advantage having a closer presence to key clients as Cerebos Gregg’s is increasingly moving into the coffee and hospitality arena.

The new location is on a split level floor within a long building. This change in level is emphasised by creating a different aesthetic in both areas, with the Café space acting as a transition point. ‘Upstairs’ is more functional for the contact centre and finance team. It has extra meeting rooms and acoustic treatment, whereas ‘downstairs’ has larger open collaboration spaces and the café. A long ramp with bright red carpet was constructed to connect the open plan area with the Food and Coffee Studio. This visually breaks up the space and gives the user a more elevated view of the outlook over Nuffield Street.

The Food and Coffee Studio is the feature piece of the fitout and is located adjacent to the reception allowing visitors a rare glimpse to ‘behind-the-scenes’ coffee and food preparation . The Studio exterior is painted a copper colour, emulating a large roasting vat. Within the space there is plywood tiered seating, punctuated with colourful seat pads, capable of housing the entire company for large functions and demonstrations.

The new building came with heritage constraints that added a rich level of interest to the new fitout. It was a requirement to use an old Kauri operable wall which became a large sliding door to separate a ‘war-room’ space; and Kauri wall panelling became an honours board for the sales team. Creative Spaces took the challenge one step further and repurposed further materials. Existing office door hardware was installed onto new meeting room doors, and the old doors were used as cladding for the Café tree-house. Partition glazing became a whiteboard surface. The raw honesty of the building was exposed by areas of ceiling grid being taken away revealing the existing terracotta coloured roof trusses and large concrete beams. The extract ducts from the Food and Coffee Studio were featured and highlighted in bright yellow. Cerebos Gregg’s was able to salvage timber from their original Dunedin factory and this now clads the Newmarket reception desk.

Brand presence was extremely important for Cerebos Gregg’s. Each meeting room was assigned a brand which is reflected in the furniture, lighting and graphics. Custom shelving located outside the boardroom displays food and coffee, and the coffee machines have their own dedicated showroom area adjacent to reception.