“Dream floorplates” envisaged for Suncorp in Brisbane’s newest city precinct
Suncorp have announced that 80 Ann Street has been selected as the site for the company’s new single location in Brisbane from 2022.
The move will consolidate Suncorp’s Brisbane workforce into a single, modern and collaborative workplace.
The decision follows similar office consolidation projects in Sydney, Auckland and Melbourne.
The Sydney project delivered close to a 30% saving in cost and space efficiency.
Suncorp CEO Michael Cameron said the new workplace will reflect Suncorp’s Queensland heritage.
“I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the other developers who have participated in this process,” Mr Cameron said.
Mirvac’s CEO Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, commented that 80 Ann Street was purpose-built for Suncorp and aligns to Brisbane City Council’s ‘Buildings that Breathe’ principles for sub-tropical architecture, while re-invigorating an historic part of the city.
"We look forward to working with the Suncorp design team to create a workplace that supports the needs of their company and the community.”
Suncorp will occupy the new $800 million tower by September 2022, subject to Mirvac finalising the land acquisition.
Designed by Woods Bagot, the premium 32-storey development at 80 Ann Street will provide Suncorp with close to 40,000 m2 of office space.
Director and global workplace architecture leader, Mark Damant, describes the project as more like a new city precinct than a singular building, made up of many diverse places.
Spanning an entire block between Ann and Turbot streets, the development will help connect the CBD to the Roma Street precinct, the two courts buildings and surrounding plazas and squares to make a distinctive precinct of its own with an unprecedented civic and retail offering, Damant said.
The design returns the last remaining piece of Brisbane’s oldest surviving fruit and produce market on Turbot Street back into the city fabric, and – with its overwhelmingly public and porous ground floors – will act as a catalyst to the upcoming Brisbane Live precinct and the development of the north west quarter of the CBD around the Roma Street Station.
Damant describes the very flexible, large floorplates, with wide structural spans, minimal internal columns and amazing access to daylight and views as “dream floorplates”.
Providing a large continuous space on each level, the floorplates are linked with stairs and atria that create larger interconnected communities all the way up the Suncorp tenancy.
“This is also a mixed mode building in the true sense with arrival spaces connected to the outside via louvered and openable facades. With terraces and balconies available to each community within the tower Suncorp’s people will be able to step outside at every third level, without having to go all the way down to the ground.
“There will be an abundance of natural daylight and fresh air for optimum workplace wellbeing and connectedness … Brisbane has the perfect climate to bring inside,” Mr Damant said.
Suncorp staff are now spread through three sites across Brisbane’s CBD.
Echoing another landmark workplace project by Woods Bagot – 1 William Street which brought together nearly 5000 Queensland public servants from 16 sites to a single location – the floor plate and spatial planning are intended to support greater collaboration and interdepartmental interaction, and happier people, in an efficient and highly productive workplace environment.