Gone are the days of standing around the water cooler, instead forward-thinking landlords are embracing innovative strategies to ‘earn the commute’ of their tenants. Creating micro cities within the asset and office, fostering a cafe culture and designing office precincts is how adventurous—and smart—landlords are securing modern tenants with evolving business needs.
The PwC Tower in Auckland is a prime example of how oyster bars and extended hospitality is bringing life back to buildings and the inner city.
Opened in 2020, it has 100 per cent occupancy on a net leasable area of 39,375sq m and a valuation of $568 million as of June, 2023.
Its podium is full of retail space, hospitality and entertainment, creating a greater offering for entertaining clients and luring CBD workers back into the city.
Cachet Group’s client relations manager (Victoria), Simon Potter, said the fitout of commercial spaces was changing and it was happening in offices and assets across both Australia and New Zealand.
“What we are seeing in the market is the question on how can employers earn the commute—because ultimately decreased office space usage negatively impacts not only the organisation but the landlord themselves,” Potter said from his office in Melbourne.
“In terms of the physical environment, what elements are you incorporating to cultivate a space that entices employees to step away from their homes and family commitments? How are you fostering a genuine atmosphere that encourages collaboration and connection with colleagues in the office?”
“It’s about fostering collaboration, mental health and the whole wellbeing aspect—thinking beyond a physical outcome like a congested space, a lacklustre lobby and bleak lift cars, but a space that nurtures holistic growth, created excitement, connection, diversity and inclusion and fulfilment for individuals and teams alike.”
The dual-national company has most recently completed commercial fitouts for a collection of offices and assets in Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
“We recently completed a workplace project for an established global retail brand at 11 Eastern Road, South Melbourne. The new space has an incredible outdoor entertaining area overlooking the cityscape,” Potter said.
“We revisited it recently and it was great to see their employee’s thriving, all collaborating and enjoying their new office environment, communicating—and the office was buzzing.
“In many of our designs, we’re seamlessly infusing the vibrant cafe culture into organisational spaces. Elevating the ambiance with an abundance of greenery and making imaginative use of the spaces offered by forward-thinking landlords.
“It’s no longer sitting at the watercooler and having a chat. Today, our focus is on crafting dynamic collaborative workspaces complete with entertainment zones, advanced workplace technology with touchless digital experiences and purpose-designed collaborative rooms—transforming the daily commute to a truly rewarding experience.
Earning the commute is quickly gaining traction across Asia-Pacific. In Brisbane, Shayher Group’s Milton Green is a premium office precinct based in the inner-city Suburb of Milton and has paved the way for how landlords are now re-positioning and upgrading office buildings across the CBD and city fringe, according to Cachet Group client relations manager (Queensland) Matt O’Brien.
“The asset’s ground-floor plane opens into amazing outdoor breakout zones, plus coffee shops and cafes, free personal training/yoga classes for occupants in the precinct, outdoor table tennis areas and workspaces with access to free wi-fi, power points and USB connectivity,” O’Brien said.
“The precinct offers Food Truck Thursdays to support the already established mature retail offering and onsite childcare centre.
“Rather than housing end-of-trip facilities in the basement, Milton Green provides an on-grade, state-of-the art facility.”
With human-centred solutions at the core of these upgrades, the space becomes expertly utilised. Milton Green created a first for amenity of its kind in Brisbane and has now been used as the basis for landlords to upgrade their assets in an effort to secure staff back into their buildings.
“We are now seeing all these methods still provide us the foundational outcomes of utilisation and value however methods such as lobby and end-of-trip upgrades are being taken to the next level, by going beyond aesthetics and instead injecting a hospitality and foyer event space feel with concierge services, digital experiences, hotel experiences, wellness saunas and so much more.”
O’Brien said it was about offering more amenities and meeting customers flexibility requirements to encourage staff to come to the asset and the workspace.
“Flexible working is here to stay,” O’Brien said, “Rather than trying to change that and create mandates to force staff back into the office straight away, we need leaders and smart landlords to adjust assets and offices to what modern society is gearing towards.
“People need flexibility in their lives.”
Although the Covid pandemic per se has all but gone from world news, the impact of it has shifted the corporate world significantly and consequently the property sector.
This is creating an exciting opportunity as new technologies and trends enter the market, due to the demand of modern tenants and so asset owners can evolve and ensure they create upgrades that are sustainable, timeless and attractive.
Cachet Group director Greg Parsonson said things were changing rapidly in the property sector and it could be overwhelming to approach strategies for decreasing vacancy rates and increasing retention, as it was not a one-size fits-all solution.
“All assets have character and it is important to shape upgrades and solutions to retain and elevate this point of difference, Parsonson said.
“Cachet is made up of diversely skilled individuals and we find passion in driving solutions that go beyond spatial needs and meet environmental, operational, or cultural needs. We see the asset as an experience and know this ideology drives value for both users and owners.”
Cachet Group offers tailored project strategy, feasibility, architectural interior design, project management and construction delivery services, all through in-house resources to deliver bespoke solutions that meet the needs of modern tenants and forward-thinking landlords.
The team takes a highly personalised approach to projects, spending time understanding specific needs of the asset, the market, new technologies and trends, before shaping the process.
The designs are thoughtful, fit-for-purpose and delivered with a consistent quality focus, offering full-lifecycle support following completion to help maintain and optimise the space, thereby supporting tenant retention.
With ever-changing trends in return-to-work policies across national and global organisations, Cachet sees this current trend of ‘Earning the commute’ quickly becoming the key driver behind every commercial interior project, now and in the future.
TOP IMAGE: 205Q Hive and Lobby. Photo credit: Mark Scowen Photography
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