Barangaroo, Sydney, Australia

Workplace Principal while at Woods Bagot Australia

10,400 sqm (112,000 sqft) NLA

Completed 2015

Gilbert + Tobin is a leading independent corporate law firm and a key player in the Australian legal market with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

As one of the early movers into the new Barangaroo development by Lend Lease, I worked closely with Danny Gilbert and the steering team which included James Calder as advisor, to create a new model for the legal industry. Based on a professional services configuration made for collaboration and team-working, G&T adopted an open plan configuration with a team-based arrangement suiting practice groups from 6-10 people. A key component to move the fee earners away from a cellular arrangement to a tea-based open plan solution was to ensure that a paper-lite strategy had been implemented and the right mobile technology solutions to allow the lawyers to move from their desk position to a quiet room or collaboration space quickly if needed due to confidentiality.

As a key contributor over a 6 month period to the mediation of the ideas and designs with the Partnership, steering group and Calder, I  then worked with the Sydney design team to develop the design over a further 6 month period as legal design specialist and key presenter.

The project was delivered as a hybrid integrated approach with early works including stairs, mechanical services and ceiling modifications with Lend Lease.