On the one hand the BVN Sydney studio is a simple reworking of a typical 1970’s commercial office floor – on the other hand it is a daring move to create an interior working space using only the bones of a high-rise concrete building.

Increasingly it is accepted that spaces that are conducive to productive activity are open and transparent with plenty of formal and informal meeting spaces and lots of shared facilities like cafes, libraries, even foosball tables.  However these are simply parts of a whole, it is how they are put together that determines the ultimate feel or atmosphere of the space and whether it makes people want to be there and engage in useful activity.

When designing its own studio space in the Sydney Hilton Hotel complex BVN had the added constraints imposed by a 70’s floor plate containing a forest of supporting columns.  By removing the cladding from the columns, their size was significantly reduced and the decision to leave the columns as built, even with builders’ penciled notes, provides an authentic level of ‘found’ detail.

The ceiling grid and tiles were removed to reveal all the services and new cable trays were inserted to carry computer and lighting cables in an aesthetically pleasing way, a bit like a large race-track, around the whole ceiling.  Industrial elements including the galvanized hollow scaffolding columns are used to take computer and power cables down to work stations.

Awards

2011 IDA NSW Best of State Award
2011 RAIA NSW John Verge Award for Interior Architecture