the new face of legal - carr€¦ · 1.0 commercial legal market report 2.0 norton rose fulbright...
TRANSCRIPT
The New Face of Legal
Carr Design GroupLevel 4 31 Flinders LaneMelbourne Victoria 300061 3 9665 2300
Table of Contents
1.0 Commercial Legal Market Report
2.0 Norton Rose Fulbright Perth
3.0 Collins Square Events and Business Centre
4.0 Aickin Legal Chamber
5.0 Arnold Bloch Leibler
6.0 Peter O’Callaghan Gallery
1.0 Commercial Legal Market Report
The legal market has been under unprecedented pressure the last decade. Fierce competition is unlikely to subside as firms contend with rapid shifts in technology and resourcing.
The growing strength of in-house counsels are destabilising the traditional demand for firm based services, while smaller firms are diversifying, providing accountancy and tax advice, maintaining high flexibility while absorbing the demand for transactional services. Within legal firms, traditional resourcing models are undermined by the major increase in legal provider outsourcing (LPO) shifting paralegal work offshore.
Legal services have been commoditised like never before, and as a result client procurement tactics and workflow management must be highly sophisticated in order to be sustainable, let alone competitive.
As a result the legal sector has developed a fierce appetite to change traditional ways of working. Legal teams require greater flexibility with more time required onsite with clients, or else in different spaces within the office, movement dependent on the nature of the task at hand rather than being bound to a fixed desk.
Hyper connectivity is crucial to provide seamless integration between practice groups and regional offices. Firms need to be readily accessible to clients. No longer can firms afford to close down at the end of the day as clients’ needs transcend time zones and traditional working hours.
Legal offices remain complacent at their peril; clients want to be guaranteed their fees are directed to the most efficient resources, not unnecessary statements of grandeur. Tenancy fitouts are direct representations for what a firm stands for and their design has been the subject of increased scrutiny.
Moves to open plan offices were radical for the legal sector, but single-minded overhauls rarely achieve all objectives. Deep understanding of what a firm stands for, how a workplace operates and where efficiency can be optimised is essential for delivering the most perceptive outcome.
Design intelligence goes beyond aesthetics. It is an innate understanding of how a workplace can best drive innovation, attract clients, retain staff and position itself as a leader in a highly competitive global landscape.
A one-size fits all approach is a major liability. Customising workplaces across diverse businesses in the legal industry is a strength Carr draws upon from over 40 years experience in delivering design excellence.
2.0 Norton Rose Fulbright Perth
108 St Georges Terrace, Perth2550m²
Norton Rose Fulbright is a leading global legal practice with offices across Australia and the world. As a result, connectivity within and between their offices is a key priority for them.
The leadership of the Australian practice articulated a strong vision for the new space for the Norton Rose Fulbright Perth office, reflecting their business principles of Quality, Unity and Integrity. The new workplace in Perth’s 108 St Georges Terrace was an opportunity to implement advanced technologies to transform their communication practices and advance client services.
There was a full review of the structure of the office, to not only ensure changing work habits were supported, but to pre-empt shifts in client demands.
The driving force behind the workplace strategy was that of constant collaboration within the Norton Rose Fulbright team. This meant that cellular, fixed workstations needed to be flexible and diverse., with connectivity being paramount throughout the office.
At the same time, it was important to recognise what worked in the existing arrangement and to make modifications to this where needed. For example, the space allocated to partner offices was increased to allow room for team meetings to enable teams to still collaborate in a private space. Meeting tables in partner offices are anchored around screens affixed to the wall with a malleable arm, allowing the spaces to be multipurpose and appropriately cater for different interactions. Files can be seamlessly shared and accessed throughout the workplace, facilitating cross-team collaboration in purpose built spaces.
The legal team are situated along the glass perimeter of the tenancy, ensuring access to the expansive view and natural light is provided to those spending regular period of time at their desks. Contrary to the original intention of 108 St Georges Terrace, the corner office is removed in the new design, giving the space back to the team and allowing light to reach further within the floor plate. Akin to a library space, this environment encourages contemplation; allowing solitary tasks to be completed with limited distraction and affording staff the visual perspective to promote intellectual creativity. The perimeter of the workspace is planted the whole way around, with 50% of desks allowing electronic touch sit-to-stand working.
Enhancing existing conditions went beyond workplace behaviour. Up lighting was utilised to release natural light, rather than obstruct it with the artificial variety. Material selections were made based on the West Australian natural environment, with internal wall curves reflecting the expansive water views. Curved shapes have enhanced the feeling of movement throughout the workplace, removing the severe 90-degree corners that complemented the façade’s distinct architecture.
The client floor has moved away from being a corporate showcase to being a working space, in a move aligned with NRF’s commitment to connectivity. Integrated technology allows the team to truly work with their clients in meeting spaces, accessing digital file content with ease. The functional meeting rooms are encased with switchable I-glass to give the flexibility of transparent glass or visual privacy. The natural light on the client floor is able to spill through the meeting rooms, or else be concealed for darkened presentations.
Adjacent to the client meeting spaces is an area for multifunction events. The separation between team and client spaces is removed, with sliding walls being able to adapt to a variety of hospitality requirements – from a board meeting, to a whole team or office presentation, or a social function. The cultural emphasis on fluidity is emphasised by the central stair, integrating the three levels of the tenancy, encouraging cross-team social connectivity in the central level breakout space.
There are private pods enclosed within the staircase which are available for both team and client meetings. The dynamic use of this space is a provision for overflow from the client floor, whilst also providing private meeting spaces to each of the work floors.
The new workplace also provides personal locker space for each member of the Norton Rose Fulbright team. Space reclaimed from file storage is given back to the team in recognition of their desire for flexibility. The locker spaces assist all areas of working life, balancing between formal commitments during the day and activities such as active commuting and lunchtime fitness.
3.0 Collins Square Events and Business Centre
727 Collins Street, Melbourne4000m²
The appetite for change has seen firms such as Maddocks and KPMG moving away from the traditional stronghold at the top of Collins Street and the traditional Melbourne legal precinct to the dynamic offerings in CBD’s western precinct.
Collins Square caters to the demand for variable commercial real estate costs. As firms look to offer their clients and their team more under the pressure of volatile revenue predictions, the option to access shared space within the base build is an attractive proposition.
The Collins Square model, developed by Walker Corporation to set a new benchmark in provision of shared services, allows occupants to focus their tenancies on spaces that have high utilisation whilst maintaining the capability to hold seminars, business lunches and social functions. In many cases, shared facilities offer services beyond the capacity of an in-tenancy function space, with professional catering on hand to provide for a business’ needs when required.
Room to present, meet and entertain is no longer an overhead luxury, but booked and paid for when required. Tenancy costs here adapting to the pressures firms themselves are experiencing, where traditional fee modelling is very much subject to change.
Across two floors, the centre will contain a series of large events and seminar rooms that will have a dynamic architectural composition. Responding to its city landscape, the rooms will be impressive both in terms of scale and aesthetic. There will also be a café and bar area, a lounge/pre function space and back-of-house facilities. Meeting rooms will be set up with food and beverage amenities pre occupancy.
Connectivity again takes absolute precedence. Throughout the shared spaces, technology is integrated into every room. Individual tenant servers can be brought up immediately, providing swift access to files and communications. Despite being a shared amenity, the environment is designed to be a seamless extension of the tenant’s workplace, where meetings are genuinely supported, rather than distracted by technological aids.
The centre has evolved through an ongoing demand for tenant’s needs for flexibility and space optimisations. By providing these shared facilities on a user pays basis, the Events and Business Centre enables tenants to minimise their fitout costs and have total flexibility in how they use front-of-house facilities as organisational needs change over time.
4.0 Aicken Legal Chamber
200 Queen Street, Melbourne868m²
Aickin Chambers is in a unique position. Steeped in the rituals and ceremony of court procedure, the chambers’ barristers are routinely engaged in the forefront of legal reform.
Scrutinising the currency of long-standing legal precedents was here applied to the workplace. How barristers most efficiently use the space and how their environment represented their work to their clients was comprehensively analysed.
Through a highly collaborative process engaging each of the 14 barristers, the brief was to create a new public face and central hub that would reinforce the themes of integrity, intelligence and innovation.
Peter Jopling AM QC noted “one of the key aims with the brief was a fitout that didn’t age. We really wanted an interior that was timeless and had an international flavour. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from what most people expect from a barrister’s chambers.”
Constructed over a tight time period of just six weeks to coincide with the Supreme Court Christmas break, the new legal chambers is transparent and open to reinforce the profession’s push for accessibility.
To create a point of difference, the new entry point has a virtual reception. A digital screen enables visitors to touch a photographic face of each of the barristers to let the executive assistant know they have arrived. Demystifying the visitor experience, Aickin puts a face to a name from the outset.
Juxtaposing the old with the new, the books are set against the boardroom - a visually arresting glass box inserted into the existing shell. Switchable I-glass and LED light ensures the boardroom can have full privacy when required. At the flick of a switch the outside glass is turned off, signifying confidentiality and focus.
“I have always been very impressed by the professionalism of Carr,” says Peter Jopling, who was on the workplace design advisory committee. “So many people of the design world have these wonderful ideas but they fail on the execution. Carr completely delivers on the execution. They understand how lawyers are obsessed with detail and time delivery, and exceed these expectations”
5.0 Arnold Bloch Leibler
333 Collins Street, Melbourne3774m²
Within a market that is driven by change, Arnold Bloch Leibler (ABL) saw the opportunity to position its brand traditions as a point of difference. Whilst prioritising efficient communication and file management systems, ABL’s competitive proposal is a prestigious legacy.
ABL demonstrates the flaw in a one-size fits all approach. The firm’s market position is deeply misaligned with an open-plan environment. Individuality is important at ABL, for each person and within each department. For ABL, maintaining an established niche was key to their business strategy.
Carr conducted intensive partner briefing sessions to develop an intimate understanding of ABL’s current working styles and how they could be enhanced into the future of the next eight-year term.
Recognising that client meetings were routinely held within senior partner offices on the top floor, extreme care was taken to ensure a clean path of circulation to each office. A wide central stair directs clients from reception to the partner office upstairs. With its glass balustrades and open tread steps, the stair is a statement of the scale of the practice.
The fitout accommodates personalised offices; these varying spaces are bound together by a consistent aesthetic across the three levels. Offices are kept fairly neutral, encouraging the team to project their own personality through artwork and furniture selection.The new social break out space serves as a key driver for ABL to maintain their convivial culture.
The library remains the point of common interaction, preserving the emphasis on knowledge and sharing of ideas.
The new workplace is the successful outcome of a design process uniquely responsive to ABL. Carr’s ongoing relationship with the firm, spanning over 30 years is a testament to a dynamic relationship, adapting to the market at hand without losing sight of the core values that define ABL.
6.0 Peter O’Callaghan Gallery
Owen Dixon West Chambers525 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
The legal profession has been significantly advanced amidst radical social change throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Carr worked with the Arts and Collections Committee of the Victorian Bar to curate the visual history of those that have shaped the contemporary profession. The gallery in Owen Dixon Chambers West serves as a pertinent reminder of the law’s obligation to adapt to the changing society it represents.