Workplace fitouts designed around how the team actually works
Office fitout briefs are usually written before anyone counts the people, the meeting rooms or the desks. We start with an occupancy and activity study: headcount now and in three years, how many people are in the office on which days, which teams need to sit together, how many enclosed rooms the meeting culture actually uses, and where focus work happens. That data drives the space plan. The result is a workplace that is dense enough to justify the lease without being a call centre, and generous where generosity is used every day.
Space planning, hybrid working and desk ratios
Hybrid work changed the arithmetic. A team of sixty may peak at thirty-five in the office, but those thirty-five still need rooms, acoustic privacy and somewhere to take a call without walking outside. We plan against peak attendance rather than headcount, then set a desk ratio that reflects real patterns and provide more enclosed and semi-enclosed meeting space than a pre-2020 plan would have. Neighbourhoods are zoned by acoustic intensity — collaboration near the entry and social core, focus and deep work in quieter zones away from circulation — so the floorplate works without signage telling people where to be.
We also plan for change. Partitions are set out on a demountable or relocatable module where the lease is short or the business is volatile, services are distributed through accessible ceiling and floor paths rather than buried in walls, and the furniture plan assumes power and data will move rather than pretending they will not.
Acoustics, focus and wellbeing
Acoustics decide whether an open plan office works. We treat ceilings with absorptive tiles or baffles, specify carpet or acoustic underlay, use upholstered screens and soft seating at collaboration zones, and place plant and risers away from desks. Meeting rooms are isolated to a tested standard with solid-core doors, seals and independent returns so a presentation does not leak into the work floor. Lighting is specified to a task-appropriate level with good colour rendering and glare control, and daylight and views are preserved along the perimeter rather than being consumed by closed offices.
Wellbeing is a design input, not a certification afterthought: end-of-trip facilities, secure bike parking, showers, a properly ventilated and acoustically separated breakout or parents’ room, kitchen and tea points located to create natural interaction, and indoor plants and greenery where they can be maintained rather than left to die. Where a client is targeting a Green Star or NABERS outcome we coordinate with the sustainability consultant and document the relevant materials and systems.
Services, data and technology
A modern workplace is a technology project with furniture in it. We coordinate structured cabling, comms room build with cooling and security, wireless access point positioning, AV in meeting rooms, room booking screens, access control and CCTV, and the power density that hybrid meeting rooms demand. Cable management is designed, not improvised — under-desk trays, floor boxes in the right places, and ceiling pathways that stay accessible for the next change. Where the base building’s mechanical capacity is marginal, we model occupancy and equipment load honestly rather than discovering the shortfall in the first summer.
Approvals, strata and base building constraints
Office fitouts in Sydney usually sit inside a landlord’s design and construction guidelines, and often inside a strata scheme. We prepare the approval submission in the form the landlord requires — layout, services, finishes, contractor insurances, programme and methodology — and manage the review process so consent is not the critical path. Works affecting base building services, structure, fire systems or the building facade require coordination with the building’s consultants and certifier, and we handle that interface. Egress, fire services, accessibility and amenities compliance are resolved in documentation.
Where the tenancy is a refurbishment of an occupied floor, we phase by zone with dust and noise separation, work outside core hours where required, and keep egress routes and fire systems live throughout.
Programme and cost in workplace fitouts
An office fitout of 300 to 1,000 square metres typically takes 8 to 16 weeks on site after approvals. Cost per square metre is driven by partition and room count (more enclosed rooms means more glazing, more doors, more mechanical), ceiling and lighting specification, joinery extent, and the state of the base building’s services. We price trade by trade with a clearly stated scope and exclusions list, then hold the price through construction with a documented variation process — no silent additions at the final account.
We also advise on the split between fitout cost and furniture cost. A well-designed base build with mid-range furniture usually outperforms an expensive furniture package in a poorly planned room, and we will say so even when it means a smaller fitout scope for us.
Handover, relocation and ongoing support
Workplace handover includes as-builts, O&M manuals, warranty register, finishes and product codes, a workstation and power layout plan, and a defects process with defined response times. We coordinate the move itself where required — phased relocation, IT cutover sequencing and a weekend flip so Monday morning works. Because we manufacture joinery in-house, reception desks, tea points, storage walls and workstation integration can be adjusted after occupation as the team changes, without a new procurement cycle.
Workplace fitout frequently asked questions
Do you build to our architect’s or interior designer’s drawings?
Yes. We regularly deliver third-party designs and will review them for buildability, compliance and cost before pricing so problems are solved on paper.
Can we stay in the office during the fitout?
Often yes, using zoned phasing, hoardings, out-of-hours works and temporary services. We will tell you honestly if a short relocation is cheaper than a long, disrupted build.
How do you handle IT and AV?
We coordinate cabling, comms room, AV, access control and security as part of the fitout scope, or work alongside your IT provider with a documented interface and programme so cutover happens on a known date.