Lotus Gliding Whiteboard Panels create pioneering flexible design space
Project
Customer Experience Company (CEC)
Awards
2018 Australian Interior Design Award for Workplace Design
Architect
BVN
Interiors
Lotus Folding Walls & Doors
Builder
MPA
Location
Level 6 & 7, Macquarie Place, Sydney NSW
OVERVIEW
Lotus, a leader in adaptable space solutions, was contracted to deliver commercial quality solutions for the remodel of leading design group, The Customer Experience Company’s airy Sydney studio space. With a principle of the business to think differently to achieve different outcomes, and a philosophy that applies design thinking to business problems, successfully achieving innovative outcomes and better experiences for the customer, it came as no surprise The Customer Experience Company wanted to challenge the traditional workplace notions. A key component of the design was to enable the environment to be easily modified for various purposes, both internal and client facing; a brief Lotus Doors could easily assist to fulfil.
THE SPACE
An innovative industry leader, The Customer Experience Company is a bright, vibrant 500 meter-squared space located on the fringe of Sydney’s beautiful Circular Quay, in the heart of Sydney’s bustling Macquarie Place. Stripped back with a ceiling baring utility pipes and ducts, the office is a straightforward facilitator, eliminating distractions to streamline the thought process and creativity of the 30 employees within it.
“The Customer Experience Company had a short timeframe to work around. They wanted a space that reflected their values and was a visual representation of what the brand stood for,” said Sally Johnson of BVN Architects.
CEC has a unique way of working, empowering its team to ensure they feel included on every level, and making even the most straightforward projects exciting. A key element taken into consideration during the planning stages was that employees rarely work with the same people twice, meaning each new project brings with it new opportunities to grow. As such, there was a strong requirement for an adaptable, flexible open plan space that maximised efficiency, productivity and creativity, setting the team up for success every day and taking the idea of putting ‘thoughts on paper’ to a new level.
“Lotus’ ethos of creating spaces where people thrive supported the vision outlined by CEC. We are experts in adaptive space solutions and we love the opportunity to collaborate with our customers to provide unique bespoke solutions,” says Ken Molloy, Lotus’ Head of Design and Product Development.
“We pride ourselves on being able to provide flexibility to our customers using our high-quality products and design solutions to adapt to activities of the moment.”
THE SOLUTION
Pushing the boundaries and exploring the true meaning behind “flexible workspaces”, BVN re-designed and developed the studio interior of CEC to ensure flexibility, functionality and creativity, maximising sight lines to water views, surrounding greenery and connection throughout the studio to create a ‘one team’ feel.
The project was achieved in a short timeframe through rapid prototype design development and by pushing the boundaries when it came to traditional notions of workplace design. The challenge was creating easily modifiable spaces adaptable to suit quiet focused work, ad-hoc team collaborations, large-scale events and client workshops, all whilst allowing employees to be fully agile.
“We worked closely with BVN and MPA to ensure we fully understood the end users’ intent for the space, including the physical usage and exact degree of flexibility required,” explains Mr Molloy.
“It was this close attention to detail that ensured Lotus achieved the perfect outcome by adapting an existing product so it would fulfil and exceed CEC’s requirements, while still operating in a cost effective and timely manner and carefully complying with additional safety briefs.”
The space was designed to maximise functionality of the small studio space, allowing for greater levels of employee interaction as well as client integration whilst playing up to the central element of the brand being; experience. Key to both the design outcome and the iterative process that followed, the space was designed to manifest experience through its chameleon-like nature, achieved using the Lotus Horizontal track-mounted Gliding Whiteboard Panels.
Full of long-term impact and influence, the innovative tracking system “crosshatch” the office interior, enabling the space to mould and shape in line with its employees needs and requirements. Lightweight and easily manoeuvred to fit the changing requirements of the teams daily activities, the Lotus Gliding Whiteboard Panels can adapt and support selected experiences using minimal adjustment, enabling the putting of ‘pen to paper’ to not be limited by the availability of solid walls or tables.
“The gliding panels offer a full collaborative working space, and can be locked down anywhere in the grid allowing them to be held firmly in place whilst writing, and while still retaining the flexibility to move the panels on demand,” says Mr Molloy.
Inheriting flexibility and a non-precious attitude towards constant change, the gliding panels are easily movable, sliding along a smooth and silent roller system to create discretion when needed, or adapt to the workspace created by each individual. The CEC team is fully agile, working on folding tables with retractable power and plug and play, reconfiguring layouts daily based on project needs and requirements.
In addition, the team at CEC have abolished the traditional workspace journey, introducing a new level of spatial informality by erasing the distinctive ‘entry’ and ‘work area’, enabling the design to demonstrate its agility whilst standing for an on-brand representation of CEC’s progressive office culture and business ethos. Instead, a long bench runs through the space acting as a concierge, breakout zone, meeting point, bar for events and focal point for the team.
The result of this collaborative, forward-thinking, creative design that enables people to thrive, and offering a dynamic, award winning space that saw CEC take home the 2018 Australian Interior Design Award for Workplace Design.
PRODUCTS
Gliding Panels
Horizontal track-mounted Gliding Whiteboard Panels are not limited by the availability of solid walls. Customisable boards feature 80mm thick panels and could be up to 3m in height. Panels are lightweight and easily slide on a smooth roller system. The system is ideal for a multi-track configuration whiteboard wall, and the panels can be pin-able surfaces, magnetic and dry-wipe. Additional gliding panels can be added onto the tracks, giving as much whiteboard or panel space as needed.
For more information, view Lotlus’ website here.