2015 National Architecture Awards: Interior Architecture

Jury citation

This interior fitout is a spectacular response to the brief for Medibank’s new “activity-based” workplace. The project is intended to be a physical manifestation of the organization’s transformation from a traditional health insurance business to one with a focus on health and wellbeing. Colour, lighting and loose and fixed furnishings are employed to provide spaces suitable for a wide range of activities. The central atrium, linked by staircases and spiralling ramps, creates physical and visual connections across the workplace. This device has been exploited by the designers to provide simple and direct circulation through a complexity of departments and sections.

Individual quiet working rooms, open communal areas, libraries and meeting rooms have been successfully designed to facilitate a flexible, creative and collaborative style of working. Complex programmatic requirements, including acoustic requirements, have been met through the judicious juxtaposition of compatible functions. This is evident in the placement of the multipurpose sports court at ground level, enabling people to participate in more vigorous physical activity during the day. The court is next to an edible garden, conveniently located near a demonstration kitchen used by Medibank to promote healthy eating by staff.

Read the project review by Philip Vivian from Architecture Australia Jul/Aug 2015.