115 West Street | Paragon Architects

The tenant areas of Alexander Forbes at 115 West Street can be divided into four spatial types:
- the client interface spaces
- the open plan floor plates
- the common break-out facilities or pause areas
- the executive level

The function and tone of each of these spatial types served to interpret and formulate the design brief. The client interface areas were required to be elegant and refined, while at the same time they had to be personable and needed to accommodate the wide range of Alexander Forbes clients from investor to individual. Paragon Interface interpreted these requirements with a range of textures that were tactile and warm with a connection to nature.

Upon arrival in the main atrium, the visitor encounters two noticeable asymmetrical reception pods. These ribbed structures are designed to shade the reception staff from the moving path of the sun, penetrating the skylight cones eight floors above. Modelled by Revit software, the pods assume an intriguing organic form of their own. They are clad in bamboo to add an immediate feeling of warmth as the user enters this light filled volume.

The rugs and the carpets in the client interface areas were modelled from rock strata while again a bamboo veneer was used to clad the wall surfaces. This softens the multiple-volumed glazed atria while ficus benjamina punctuate the atrium voids and over time will envelop the lower bridges, generating a forest walk sensation. The tables in the meeting suites continue the soft play with organic forms complementing the irregular plans of the base build service elements positioned at the centre of each client interface suite.

The finishes of the tenanted areas work together with those found in the base build areas to create a workplace environment that is cordial and open to visitors as well as employees.

The floor plates reflect the desire of Alexander Forbes that office structures remain non-hierarchical and finishes more utilitarian in nature. A desire for collaborative teamwork and open communication among staff, led to the creation of large open plan floor plates with bench style cluster work stations. These are interspersed with some open door cubicles and a few offices for executives only.

The furniture and finishes in these areas is more neutral with a reduced palette of textures. Simple painted and wall papered surfaces adjoin a single overall carpet colour, with inlays that demarcate circulation routes only. The workstations and ancillary furniture are all white with black upholstered elements.

The only elements of definitive colour on the floor plates are the vinyl's applied to the power panels, which act as orientating devices to divide up the large floor plates.

In contrast to the restrained floor plates, the pause areas on each floor have a far more playful character. They are designed to stimulate and encourage creativity. The pause areas are saturated with colour that can be experienced throughout the multiple volumes of the north atrium. They are ornamented with moulded bamboo walls which appear to be continuously moving as well as magnetic walls on which an array of games, including scrabble and fridge poetry can be played.

The tone of the executive level reflects the richness and layering of experience that the company seeks to communicate with its clients. Art gathered over time, articulates the warm spaces which flow between the volumes that lead Alexander Forbes.

As a whole the collective experience of the spatial types employed at Alexander Forbes provides a varied and active work environment. Where the visitor and the employee are able to experience diversity throughout the work day without the monotony of conventional work spaces.