Carpe Diem Community, International Towers

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  • 2020

  • Design Strategy

Commissioned By:

International Towers

Liam Timms

Designed In:

Australia

Carpe Diem is a watershed in the design and delivery of workspaces and completely new concept in commercial real estate. Built over two levels at International Towers, Barangaroo, it’s a contemporary environment of ten, pre-fitted workspaces that provide smaller enterprises with a world-class environment of timeless beauty and enduring quality.


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  • CHALLENGE
  • SOLUTION
  • IMPACT
  • MORE
  • The world has changed dramatically, as have the challenges for businesses. Smaller companies continue to balance increasing social and environmental accountability with a need for growth, flexibility and ROI. Carpe Diem was not a response to a brief. It is the result of profound and sophisticated foresight into the impact of revolutionary and generational change on how companies and people will work, and the role of the workplace in supporting this change. It is a wholly new concept in communal working - a seamless fusion of diverse ingredients, each playing a role in creating an environment that allows people to thrive.

  • By placing universal human needs at the heart of the workplace, Carpe Diem eliminates many of the complex challenges curtailing the success of small enterprise. The design and management of Carpe Diem communicates inspiring vision, shared goals, common values and ethics, fuelling people’s potential, creativity, meaning and purpose - in a physical environment that facilitates positive interactions, safety and freedom. This new custodian-community model includes a curated approach to tenancy, fostering collaboration opportunities that don’t exist in traditional workplaces. It responds to a profound shift in workplace culture away from rigid constructs and hierarchical models towards informal, democratic and social experiences.

  • Carpe Diem is a completely new category of workplace, designed and operated in a way that provides the optimal physical, psychological and cultural conditions that enables employees to deliver consistent high performance. It’s the adroit pairing of the right type of built environment design with the right psychological and sociological aspects that has created a sustainable, high-performance, high-wellness workplace. For the first time, smaller organisations have the opportunity to benefit from unprecedented flexibility in the form and function of their physical environment, which equally supports sustainable, long-term growth with short-term or seasonal spikes in activity - with no changes to fitout.

  • An Australian design-first was the mandating of physical transparency between neighbouring tenancies. The use of glass over solid inter-tenancy partitioning allows the permutation of natural light and views throughout the floor and elicits a sense of connectedness. A curated program of Indigenous art exhibited on a continuous rotating basis on both levels provides exposure and opportunity for emerging Indigenous artists and importantly educates and exposes custodians to Indigenous art and culture. An Australian-first in the specification of Australian Native plants for use indoors. Those planted at perimeter locations were selected for their preference to various sun orientations at different times of the day. A unique “Companionway’’ provides an iconic experience connecting and activating the two-level space of the north west corner, mastering extraordinary views and capturing afternoon and evening light within an extraordinarily designed space. Inspired by the social and operational heart of a boat’s interior, this space is the heart of the community; informal gatherings, cultural activities, informal working, minor and major events, both planned, spontaneous and serendipitous. An award-winning digital platform available to all custodian-tenants supports seamless connectivity and hyper-efficiency. The 'International Towers Partner’s Portal’ facilitates community events, activity space booking, lift and locker access among other services.