Located in the Harry Seidler designed office tower in the heart of the Sydney CBD — fitzpatrick + partners head studio is one of a kind in its lighting approach and architectural intent. This is no utilitarian office space but a bespoke, collaborative studio that welcomes innovation and creative solutions.
Exposed ceiling. Open layout. Elevated desks with high stools encourage team members to move more freely throughout the office. The perched positions maintain ‘equality’ where approaching team members work stations as there is no ‘towering over’ colleagues in old-fashioned office chairs. Storage cabinets are on casters to ‘build’ new spaces and collaboration areas based on projects. Each component has been considered to adapt to the team members’ requirements easily. Complementing this unique, agile design, the lighting designers at Steensen Varming overlaid a functional lighting solution to the studio while preserving its raw and honest feel. Everything about this studio supports collaboration, creativity and agility in mind.
Breaking away from the norm of a uniformly lit office, the colour tuning Eclipse Linear Lights highlight fitzpatrick + partners’ open ceilings that reveal the tower’s elegant Seidler castellated steel beam structure. Subtly lighting the space, the indirect illuminance perfectly balances the daylight ingress from large window panels. Individually controllable lights directed at each work station provide sufficient task lighting. Casambi controls the tunable white luminaires. The automated control system has been programmed to follow natural circadian cycles with gently shifting colour temperatures throughout the day. In the evening, there is a noticeably, warmer studio atmosphere.
In communal and collaborative areas, the FX Track, Darklights, and Spotlights combine to provide excellent task lighting above tables and workspaces. With minimised glare and optimum comfort, the lighting is concentrated where needed. The FX also provides the flexibility to reposition the lighting along the tracks when the project teams rearrange the furnishing to best suit the collaboration required.
With flexibility in furnishings and lighting, team members can tailor spaces to their liking today and into the future
Architects: fitzpatrick + partners
Lighting designers: Steensen Varming
Casambi commissioning: Afterglow Lighting
Lighting distributor: H.I Lighting NSW
Photographer: Simon Whitbread
