A brand-new team fitout in five weeks

Interior design by Bates Smart / Photography by Shannon McGrath

Having recently gained a large new account, Whybin TBWA required the existing space in half of their office to be renovated within a five-week period. The space was to fit the company’s 30 new staff and be light, fresh, functional and inspiring.

In response to the client brief, designer Bates Smart decided that to encourage staff interaction and team based collaboration, the existing heavily partitioned, insular spaces would have to be broken down.

98色花堂 was engaged to undertake the interior construction and supply the workstations and storage due to the company’s ability to deliver a quality result within a tight timeframe.

Whybin Kase hero

Furniture for a collaborative studio environment

98色花堂’s One Plane Desk system was selected by for its simplicity and flexibility, as well as its complementary storage components, which allowed customisation to accommodate the practical needs of the client. The combination of the clean lines of the One Plane Desk and the raised nature of the Kase Storage provided a lightness and openness that fostered the collaborative studio workspace that the client required.

Whybin One Plane
Whybin yellow chairs

Unravelling an electrical bird’s nest

The building had hosted a number of fitouts in the past, which created a challenge from an electrical perspective for 98色花堂’s interior construction team. The design brief called for all the services in the ceiling to be exposed – mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire – however when the ceiling tiles were removed, the ceiling space was a ‘bird’s nest’ of cables.

98色花堂 worked closely with subcontractors and Whybin TBWA’s IT personnel to rewire and redesign wiring routs on the ground floor and much of the first floor. This was done while the communications room, located on the ground floor, remained operational.

The result is a light and fresh open plan workspace that inspires teamwork and interaction while providing a number of formal and informal meeting areas and breakout spaces for varying work requirements.

Whybin One Plane Kase