Spaceworks has designed a new office space for The Icehouse, a growing coworking space located in Auckland, New Zealand.

The Icehouse has grown exponentially over the past three years and has found the demand for co-working ramping up. This growth gave the opportunity to move to a significantly greater floor plate in Parnell, Auckland. Spaceworks was engaged to make the new office as effective and inspiring as possible within a tight timeframe and budget.

Co-working spaces require a precise design to support the needs of people from a diverse range of industries and it must also accommodate a plethora of different personalities. The space is also in the 1920s textile building in Parnell which is an incredibly handsome structure but because of its age comprises many complexities. To ensure everyone’s needs were taken into account, Spaceworks undertook workplace strategy methodology to ensure the space accommodated the differing working styles of everyone at The Icehouse. Through this, we discovered that people wanted more meeting rooms, brainstorming and break out areas, quiet zones and flexible working spaces, sitting and standing desks. So, our design incorporated all of the above giving workers a plethora of working options and styles. From social sitting, standing, quiet open meeting zones and a central hub – the kitchen which doubles as an events space.

The space encapsulates everything that The Icehouse believes in. It’s a good dose of entrepreneurial spirit in its design and facilitates networking and business support. The new office is now a large expansive space and rather than having a sea of desks, Spaceworks undertook meticulous planning of the layout. The kitchen located in the corner of the office is highly visible, the loud Buzz zone and a natural area for people to congregate, chat and relax. So flexible in its creation the kitchen can also become an entertainment area for events. There are now seven meeting rooms and with numerous sections designed for informal business catch ups, along with video conferencing. Further out becomes the quiet zones and thinking spaces.

The move towards standing desks is becoming increasingly notable and The Icehouse now have an area where their workers can choose to sit and work but when they need to stretch their legs can move to a stand-up desk space. To further support New Zealand businesses including alumni of The Icehouse, as much of the furniture is designed or manufactured in New Zealand as possible, a local art company showcases emerging Kiwi artists and even the plants and cleaning companies are Kiwi owned.

Design: Spaceworks
Photography: Allen Nicholson

via Office Snapshots