Me tube

You know, I have always wanted to work in an office that had a pneumatic tube system for sending messages and other items around the shared space. Wouldn’t that be cool? You pop your cylinder in a socket near your desk, and the missive is sucked up and whisked away to its destination.

Yes, I hear you. It probably isn’t that practical in an office of less than 20 staff, all of whom are in easy walking distance from one another. And email probably is more convenient too.

Another item I have been daydreaming about is a typing pool – a room full of competent 90-word-per-minute office specialists clacking away diligently at their Olivettis. Speed, accuracy and convenience at the ready. Then I could simply slip a memo or dictation tape in an intra-office envelope and send it over (via tube in a best-case scenario) and have my work arrive back in perfect shape.

Well, you’re right, my typing is probably satisfactory. OK, scratch the pool.

Hmm, well I do have a few other things I have been contemplating: a cone of silence for blocking out noisy colleagues, a water fountain to provide a comforting tinkling noise and better chi flow, and a fireman’s pole for getting down to the ground floor in a hurry.

True, I can’t see that stuff passing OH&S regulations either. Hmm.

Well, if everything on my ideal office wish list is off the table, perhaps I should simply plump for something that looks and feels a bit like Arup’s new Sydney office.

In this month’s Ecolibrium cover story by regular correspondent Sean McGowan we are granted access to Barrack Place, which has been awarded Australia’s first WELL Core and Shell Precertification at the Gold level by the International WELL Building Institute.

Given that both the base building and Arup’s office fitout, which spans the building’s first five levels, have achieved 6 star Green Star Design ratings (world leadership status), the project certainly fits this month’s theme of Green Star and ratings tools.

More than this, the feature provides an insight into best-practice office design.

As Investa’s Shen Chiu says, new buildings provide a unique opportunity to deliver a healthy place to work from the ground up.

Plenty of natural light, a cavernous void, external terrace, mixed-mode natural ventilation, underfloor air distribution, open spaces, workshops, and studios providing opportunities for collaboration. Barrack Place has all this and more, and the article explores how Arup and A.G. Coombs delivered the mechanical services to make it a reality.

It looks to be a special project indeed.

Yet as someone used to my own individual desk space, I’d struggle with the activity-based working concept implemented at the Clarence Street building.

I might have to retreat to the cone of silence to think about that one. 

To read about Barrack place, check out this months's cover story at www.airah.org.au/ecolibrium