Woolworths Support OfficeNorwest, NSW

Woolworthssupport office

“...to create an image exuding modesty, sense of Woolworths

community, low key, security, optimise site, environmentally

sustainable and value for money”.

sense of place

Woodhead was engaged as architectural consultants for both the base building and fitout for an integrated accommodation solution for Woolworth’s corporate headquarters. The project was the cultural amalgamation of a fiscally strong although disconnected company that was originally physically discontented. The support facilities were previously located in 8 separate locations around Sydney. The purpose of the project was to unite the people to optimise the location and bring all staff, training facilities and working culture together as one.

The content and structure of the consultation phase of the project was critical as the requirements identified for the fitout were a key driver of the base building design. The floor plates’ widths were governed by flexibility, facility access and natural light penetration. The atrium with connecting bridges and solid timber stairs provide vertical and horizontal circulation for all. These points of connectivity are used continuously, supporting the cultural brief of ‘community and connection’.

The interior components focused on four key objectives:

— Break out spaces were located on the end of each floor plate, overlooking the central market place. The areas were designed to draw people towards the mezzanine edges to connect and create a dynamic facility.

— The Utility areas were equally located on the floor plates, allowing an equality of distance for ease of access and noise consolidation.

— The Meeting Rooms were located on the corridor edges, allowing the spaces to catch indirect illumination and be part of the sec-ondary circulation corridors.

— The Open Working Environment was his-torically ground breaking. Woolworths had come from a company hierarchy and the planning was used as a management tool to break down office management hierarchy to a flatter team structure and a total of 15 enclosed offices for 2700 staff only over the 60,000sqm.

...ease of way finding reinforces the cultural

presence of the central space, reinforces egalitarian

values, and a clear line of sight is maximised across

the floor plate…

The end users have endorsed the environment becoming familiar with the building and enjoying being part of the entire consolidation process, as this is part of Woolworth’s corporate history.

The site is located in a new Greenfield business park with a riparian zone flanking the eastern boundary. Surrounded by an emerging new business and residential context, the Support Office is defined by its architectural relationship to the natural-historical context, the textures and colours of the Australian bush, and deliberately avoids the ‘spectacle’. The mottled façade relates to the Eucalypt context which has been re-established around the site. The central space, primarily a cultural centre to the campus, is configured to provide a tempered climate somewhere between ‘outdoor’ and ‘indoor’. This space is managed by a hybrid HVAC system that runs in ‘natural’ mode approximately 60% of the year.

Through detailed engineering and air-flow management, all office floor plates remain open to this central space, supporting the ‘one-ness’ so vital to the business’ culture.

The central space permits direct sunlight into some circulation and café areas at specific times, enhancing the sense of ‘outdoor’.

The central space floor contains in-slab heating to provide energy efficient and comfortable radiant warmth during winter. The water used in the system is heated with waste heat from boilers used for mechanical plant.

Water

The landscape scheme has been designed using primarily endemic species – the campus will in time be surrounded by a grid of Eucalypts that reflect the building grid into the landscape. Species were selected that will survive periods of drought or low seasonal rainfall.

the central marketplace concept: a communal place, accessible, legible entrances... clearly defined facilities... connection between inside and out...

Stormwater is harvested from all office roofs and collected in one storage dam at the lower end of the site. This water is reticulated to particular landscaped zones for irrigation, with any overflow being diverted to the riparian zone on the eastern boundary.

The built response to the brief developed in a methodical manner and included two international research study tours [with the client] into numerous building components such as; flooring, facades, louvred glass facade detailing, stair Vs lift access, atrium composition, and ESD considerations. All elements were brought together around a contiguous ‘public’ network of streets and central marketplace.

The project’s budget encouraged a fit-for-purpose result, with no superfluous materials or items. Every part of the building had to serve at least one purpose. As developer and future tenant, Woolworths’ regular reporting of cost and budget assisted in keeping the team on course.

Through our strong collaborative approach with the client and a team of sub consultants, the result is a built solution which resolved the unique atrium and central marketplace with “off-the-shelf” components assembled to ensure maximum sustainable performance.

Woodhead, working with Hyder Consulting, ensured the Hybrid HVAC solution for the central marketplace was “naturally ventilated” reducing air-conditioning, heating requirements and the artificial nature of most indoor office spaces.

typical floor plan

Project Team:

Architects: Woodhead

David Holm Geofffrey Lee Tony Murace Graeme McKenzie Matt Findlay Stuart Truman Bijaya Sharma Alison Irons

Interior design: Woodhead

Project Managers: KDM & Associates

Builder: John Holland

Developer: Woolworths Limited

Consultants: Waterman AHW iLAB Pty Ltd Wilkinson Murray The Mack Group BCA Logic Access Australia Innova-Tech Page Kirkland

Photography: John Gollings

For further information contact; sydney@woodhead.com.au

www.woodhead.com.au