The talent crisis and employee preferences for WFH means workplaces need to utilise office spaces as a tool to connect with staff. In Better Workplaces, AdNews looks at how agencies use office design to entice staff to come in and create a company culture worth staying for.
Full service agency Spinach Advertising in South Melbourne created a office with a relaxed club feel.
Aesthetically the agency wanted to create a softer, more stylish version of the TV series ‘Cheers’. And with a chandelier that makes everyone smile, this office has noticeable heritage with a modern twist.
Spinach's lounge bar is the first space you see when entering, it's the agency's common area used for presentations, casual meetings, office events and more. Pictured behind the bar is Frank Morabito.
Frank Morabito, executive creative director and partner at Spinach Advertising, took on an executive role as lead designer of the new office along with input from other Spinach people.
“The original office was a neglected open plan 600sqm space with stained ceiling tiles, you know, the type you see at the dentist,” Morabito said.
“But it had a 40 metre frontage of full height windows with great natural light. As real estate agents say - plenty of potential.
“I climbed up a ladder, stuck my head in the ceiling and discovered another metre of ceiling space.
“So, we ripped out the hideous ceiling grid, exposed the internal roof structure, painted it black, and created a very sharp, contemporary space to play with.”
Open-planned staff desks.
Collectively the agency started planning the office move in the middle of covid when there was a lot of talk about working from home with the “end of the office” a possible circumstance.
But after a lifetime in advertising from staff at Spinach, their gut told them that people will always want a place to come together, to collaborate and share ideas.
Morabito said: “Our end goal was to create a flexible space that was warm, welcoming and fun.
"A place that offered lots of opportunities for people to gather both formally and informally to collaborate or just talk shit whenever they wanted."
“Functionally, it had to be very flexible, digitally specced up and video conference friendly," Morabito continues.
“For example, the lounge bar with its large monitors and full AV system doubles as a brilliant presentation space for internal and external presentations, agency functions and guest speaker sessions."
Agency branding on the office tv's behind the bar.
“The lounge bar is everything we hoped it would be," Morabito said.
"Whether it’s meeting over a coffee, eating lunch, watching something on the screens, or enjoying a drink after work, the space truly brings people together."
Spinach's bar is always stacked. The top shelf features some of the agency's clients.
“It’s been a real-life build it and they will come experience, we have had many clients request to use the space for their own team presentations.
"We welcome as many as we can handle."
“All meeting rooms have full double-screen video conferencing equipment for times when we have to meet via one of the video platforms.
"We also have smaller zoom rooms for one-on-one calls.”
'Zoom rooms' designed to provide a quiet space for online meetings.
The largest meeting room at the agency.
One of two medium sized meeting rooms.
“We’ve also been mindful not throwing out perfectly good office furniture, our large meeting table has been with us for over 20 years and now sits in its third location.
"Moving it was a huge exercise and it would have been much easier and cheaper to buy new.”
Inside the largest meeting room, the table that's been with the agency for decades.
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