FRASERS Property Australia and the GPT Wholesale Office Fund have revealed their design for the overhauled lobby of 2 Southbank Boulevard in Melbourne’s Freshwater Place.
Led by BVN architects, the overhaul came as the landlords sought to re-lease 23,000 sqm across 15 office levels following the exit of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Some 22,000 sqm has been leased in the past 12 months, including take-ups by Carlton and United Breweries across 6,500 sqm and GPT’s Spaco&Co co-working space venture, which counts Uber among its tenants.
WPP, Saputo, Select Solutions, Built, and Cliftons have also taken space in the building, which is home to Microsoft, Apple, Heinz and Ausnet. Some 14,000 sqm of lease renewals have also been secured in the past 12 months.
The lobby can be transformed into three distinctive areas through high steel and glass pivot doors. The first zone is a digital collaborative space in which guests and tenants can utilise a variety of seating configurations. The second zone, “Espresso Lane”, connects the main lobby to the external Freshwater Place piazza and brings an element of the outdoor space to the lobby, as well as new café, Upright Citizens. The third zone offers a flexible event space designed for tenants to use, for large-scale meetings or more formal functions.
“Office lobbies are no longer solemn spaces, but accomplished, multi-purpose places where tenants are arriving to a welcoming atmosphere and growing sense of community, to go with premium facilities,” fund manager, GPT Wholesale Office Fund, Martin Ritchie said.
Australian Property Journal
