Set over four buildings, The Hayesbery campus is connected by a shared external laneway, converting what was once a hat factory into a contemporary workspace that flows easily between indoor and outdoor spaces.
From its discreet entry to its lobby-style foyer, The Hayesbery has everything a boutique hotel might offer, except a place to sleep. With technology thoughtfully integrated into every aspect of the design, it creates a very human-centric environment while still enabling people to work efficiently.
Post-COVID, there’s touchless entry, as well as health and wellbeing features that include a yoga room, gymnasium, wellness and multi-faith rooms, and end of trip facilities that are worth getting on a bike for. The Hayesbery even has a fragrance – musky and herbal – and a coffee cart that donates all proceeds to charity.
“We’re in an experience era,” explains Senior Designer, Kori Todd. “Hotels nail experience, from the time you book to the minute you walk in the door. And wellness and sustainability were big drivers in creating Goodman’s workspace. We looked at the sorts of things that would drive those types of experiences, both from our people’s point of view on a day-to-day level and from a customer’s as well.”
The Hayesbery is the result of a small working group of diverse Goodman team members, led by Ben McGilp, General Manager, Developments. The group, which included people from different units across the business as well as different levels of seniority, left no stone unturned. They discussed everything from the size of the meeting rooms, to how people would drive into the car park. “We found ourselves asking ‘why not?’ rather than ‘why’?” McGilp says of the process, “Why wouldn’t you put music into the building, why wouldn’t you develop a booking app?” Although all of these micro-decisions are now deemed invisible by McGilp who noticed, “People don’t even see them anymore, because it all just works and flows seamlessly.”
“WE FOUND OURSELVES ASKING ‘WHY NOT’ RATHER THAN ‘WHY’?”
Ben McGilp, General Manager, Developments, Goodman Australia
”THERE IS SO MUCH NATURAL LIGHT WE DON’T NEED TO HAVE THE LIGHTS ON IN THE DAY.”
Kori Todd, Senior Designer, Goodman Australia
The Hayesbery design took a light touch approach when it came to both maintaining the authenticity and the heritage of the original warehouse, as well taking a long-term approach to sustainability. “There is so much natural light,” says Todd of the workspace. “We don’t need to have the lights on in the day.”
Bringing a human scale to soaring 5.5 metre ceilings in certain areas was part of Todd’s vision, while still acknowledging the industrial nature of the structure and the business itself. “I think we were really successful in achieving this because the spaces have an intimate quality to them,” explains Todd. “We made this big gesture by bringing in trees to celebrate the volume,” she says, “But it also created an intimate scale that you’re sitting under a tree canopy, so that was a good example of functionality that held the design aesthetic.”
As design development took place in the 2020 lockdown, the team were adapting and making updates to the plans to correspond with what they thought they’d need for the changing environment. And they really got the balance right.
“I had no intention when we began this project, that I was going to be working for Goodman at the end of it,” says Todd who started the project as Lead Designer at Woods Bagot. “So, it’s been an amazing experience to watch how people actually use the space as you intended it.”
One of the things Todd hadn’t anticipated was how much time people would spend working outside. “It’s incredible,” she says, “to be in a workplace where you spend a good deal of your day outdoors. You can schedule meetings outdoors or have impromptu meetings. It’s been really successful and a wonderful thing to see.”
While some companies still struggle to motivate staff to come back to the office, Goodman has had the opposite experience. “We thought if people came into the office two to three days a week, that would be great,” says Todd.
The reality is people are choosing to work in the office more often and it’s this enthusiasm to come in that McGilp is most proud of. “In truth, we’re oversubscribed” he says. “But our aim was always to give our people the flexibility – the choice – to work their day in the way that suits them. People want to come in because it’s a great space to work in.”
It’s not only Goodman people who want to come into The Hayesbery. The team are also bringing in their customers, their suppliers, families and friends. “It’s completely different than anything else on the market at the moment,” says Todd enthusiastically, “It’s fit for purpose, and it’s not like anything anyone’s really seen before.”
Some customers have asked whether Goodman could create another Hayesbery for their business, and while McGilp says of course that’s possible, it’s not about just duplicating the design, it’s a process. “I think you’ve got to really know your people,” he says. “I think the thing we did best here was solve for our own culture, first and foremost.”
But that doesn’t mean his team can’t take learnings from The Hayesbery and apply them to other commercial projects. According to McGilp, Goodman has plans to speculatively develop some fully formed fitouts in the near future. “This is an opportunity for us to take it up a level,” he says.
“One of the best things we’ve done since completing The Hayesbery was to engage Kori Todd,” he explains. “The purpose of that was to do two things: one was to solve planning challenges with improved design, and the other was to think about our buildings from a human experience perspective – so we can walk the journey of the truck driver, the supplier, the office manager, CEO. We’ve not really done that before, so I think that’s really stepping into the customer’s shoes a little further.”
Todd, too, is excited about where the industrial sector can go. “Some of what we’ve done at The Hayesbery absolutely has the ability to translate into some of those projects,” she says. “I think when we talk about what that means for industrial projects, the opportunities are tremendous.”
“I THINK THE THING WE DID BEST HERE WAS SOLVE FOR OUR OWN CULTURE, FIRST AND FOREMOST.”
Ben McGilp, General Manager, Developments, Goodman Australia
| HEALTH AND WELLBEING |
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| SUSTAINABILITY |
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| TECHNOLOGY |
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