Haines
The brief: Turn a big, old derelict storeroom into an upmarket, stylish office space for a leading recruitment advertising agency.
The client, Haines, first engaged us to manage the development of their offices in Wellington, and following that successful fitout, to do the same for their Auckland offices.
Our initial task at each site was to negotiate with the building owners to allow major upgrades to each of the historic buildings, as well as financial contribution.
At each site, all we had to work with was a big empty space – shabby timber flooring and exposed concrete beams and columns.
The designer came up with a concept that integrated exposed air conditioning ducting, cable tray and the lighting support system. Integrating the systems in this way was very clever and cost effective, though it required some careful planning and a bit of re-education, as no one involved in the project had done anything like it before.
The kitchen floor was raised and large sliding doors were installed to differentiate between spaces. With the addition of a couple of offices, a meeting room and new carpet throughout, the client’s vision quickly took shape.
Both offices were occupied on time and within budget.