Image Credit : David James Photography
Project Overview
Akcelo, an award-winning advertising agency, were making a mark, delivering exceptional campaigns for companies like Netflix, TikTok and Tinder. Within just two years of launching, Akcelo quickly grew to a team of seventy-five staff.
Soon enough, the agency was ready to vacate their co-working environments and engaged Cachet Group to design and construct their first dedicated Sydney studio - a space designed to further ignite the high performance, collaborative culture Akcelo’s worked so hard to build.
Built in 1913, Akcelo’s new Sydney office was once a toy manufacturing warehouse. The heritage building retains much of its historic charm, including features such as the A-frame trusses and brickwork.
Whilst the upper mezzanine was dedicated to work desks and refitted with a lift, the ground floor paid homage to the buildings’ original purpose, a place for creation. Scattered throughout this floor are lounges, booths, touch-down points and a large breakout island bar all dedicated to encouraging staff and clients to collaborate, share and create remarkable brand experiences.
At the heart of the project is the stunning vertical timber wave that curves and undulates, leading the eye from the illuminated logo to a screen showcasing Akcelo’s work.
Akcelo’s new office delivers an amazing physical experience & tactile representation of the brand with 1000SqM of custom space, designed from the ground up. Every inch has been curated for their people, their capability, their clients, their rituals and working models.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Project Director - Mark Turek
Lead Designer - Sue Redman
Interior Designer - Jesica Luna
Project Manager - Rebecca Mitchell
Site Manager - Peter Lever
Site Coordinator - Nathan Ciccotti
Client Creative Lead - Aden Hepburn
Client Project Manager - Jennifer Kirkwood
Project Brief
As a growing creative agency with a purpose to ‘Build Brands for the Experience Era’, Akcelo had a strong vision and needed a creative team to bring their own brand experience to life.
The brief was unique as it required a flexible yet relaxing workplace during the day, and a bar-style event space in the evening, for not only their staff but also clients. Cachet’s response was to create a design that had an essence of a co-working environment.
This was a focus for the ground-floor with highlights of this concept showcased through the; eight-metre long island bar, pops of colour, stunning vertical timber wave at the entry, wrap-around client lounge zone and unique light features to emphasize the base build features.
The ground floor was divided into two zones; the event space connecting to the boardroom and the ‘dark side’ under the mezzanine. The dark side hosts a suite of digital meeting rooms, work booths, collaboration tables and banquettes. A noteworthy space is the sound recording room and interconnected edit-suite, arming Akcelo with a state-of-the-art facility, inhouse. A signature pool table and tiered seating positioned under stairs connects these two zones. Upstairs, Cachet designed the ‘Engine Room’. With a range of flexible desking to accommodate a growing workforce; the mezzanine is dedicated to focused work. The Akcelo office is designed as an agile environment with a mix of spaces to encourage staff to move around the space and work where they feel most creative.
Project Innovation/Need
Akcelo’s way of work is pioneering the new generation of work culture where lines between a client and staff environment is blurred. The Sydney office is an ode to this collaborative culture and the remarkable outcomes this approach brings.
To support Akcelo’s endeavours in this, Cachet weaved innovative features to encourage client and staff co-creation. This included;
• integrating power into the eight-metre long kitchen island so that it can be used as a touch-down zone
• a full catering kitchen with two free-standing ovens for client driven events
• a fully-flexible working environment with connectivity between all locations
• and creating a biophilic response to the brief through incorporating mass planting, a live full-size tree, a tropical zone under the stairs and high-level planting above the kitchen. These touches of greenery along with atmospheric music and a piped scent through the air-conditioning brings a softness and feeling of luxury to the once industrial space, encouraging space use by all.
Design Challenge
Co-creation is at the heart of creating our personalised designs and ideally this occurs in a live environment, where our client and designers work together to conceptualise ideas as one team.
The concept stages of the project were hugely disrupted by the multiple Covid lockdowns in Sydney. However, Cachet Group implemented the use of a digital platform to help visualise concepts with Akcelo. All interviews, envisioning sessions and creative workshops were completed through a live interactive digital whiteboard, accessible by Akcelo and Cachet Group 24/7 enabling limitless creativity. This enabled Akcelo to engage, co-create and produce an outcome that was true to their brand.
An architectural challenge in this project was the low ceiling of the area under the mezzanine which harboured limited light. This gave way to the concept of the ‘dark side’ where Cachet’s design team introduced creative solutions to brighten the area. This included incorporating curl lights and strong pops of colour in the meeting rooms and single-person booths which echo the Akcelo red and catch your eye as a wayfinding element within the space.
Additionally, the double height space, skylights and saw-tooth roof of the existing warehouse proved a challenge to illuminate for a commercial environment. However, the design team cleverly combined wall washing lights, LED strip lighting and curly feature lights with other industrial style lighting elements to produce a natural and comfortable environment.
Sustainability
Cachet Group ensured to incorporate a design that retains the building’s heritage aspects. The design therefore complemented the existing shell and its features which in turn aided in our sustainability efforts including lighting and air circulation.
The building hosts large skylights and louvres which allows for natural lighting and fresh air reticulation. This had a significant impact in reducing energy consumption. Lighting was cleverly paired to aid in natural light amplification, decreasing the reliance on artificial lighting.
Furthermore, mass planting was incorporated throughout, including a natural live tree for the entrance. This not only increased the overall sustainability efforts of the design but also encourages wellness in the workplace.
Interior Design - Corporate
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes, aesthetic presentation and functionality. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
More Details