Woods Bagot’s transformation of historic Transport House in Sydney’s CBD for creative industry leader M&C Saatchi Group was named Best Large Workplace at the Inside World Festival of Interiors, part of the World Architecture Festival (WAF), in Singapore last night.

It is the second consecutive win at WAF for Lead Architect Ian Lomas from Woods Bagot. He also led the design of Meadowbank Schools, which was awarded Best School and Best Use of Colour at WAF 2022.

“It feels fantastic because both projects are so different – from a public school to the M&C Saatchi interiors,” said Lomas.

“Phenomenal, it just shows the power of an idea.”

The project also received Gold in the corporate office under 5000 sqm category at World Interiors News Awards just two weeks ago.

Much of the work was done through COVID-19 with the brief by M&C Saatchi Group, a long-term tenant of the building at 99 Macquarie St, to bring its staff together for the first time.

The company embraced hybrid work through COVID-19 and saw an opportunity to consolidate its office footprint across 3000sq m while ensuring its new workplace met dramatically recalibrated user demands and expectations.

Key work included repositioning the building core, adding two new internal staircases linking teams across all three floors, creating a dedicated building entry, increasing collaboration space, incorporating a destination café, flexible work areas and quiet areas.

Amanda Stanaway, then Woods Bagot’s Global Leader of Workplace Interiors and now at sister company ERA-co, said the project embodies two of the primary post-pandemic workplace trends.

“The flight to quality is also a flight to character,” Stanaway said.

“We took a 20^th century building and brought it into the 21^st century through significant base building interventions, enabling us to achieve the primary goal of facilitating better flow and worker connectivity.”

Project Leader Jordan Schumacher said the redesign drew on the history of Transport House, completed in 1938.

“It’s a story of origins, modernity and a celebration of character,” Schumacher said.

“The design outcome uses opposing ideas to create different spaces and experiences derived from stories of the past, shaping stories of the future.”

Justin Graham, M&C Saatchi Group CEO for Australia and New Zealand, said the Woods Bagot design “has created a space that allows us to better connect with the big ambitions of our clients, our people and the industry we are part of.

“It allows us to inspire, create and collaborate in a cutting-edge environment. It is a critical step forward as the business evolves.”

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Martin Kelly
Content and Communications Leader (Australia & New Zealand)