Adecco

A welcoming space for a modernized recruitment centre  

Adecco, one of the world’s largest recruitment agencies, engaged Unispace to design and build four new recruitment centres for the Australian Department of Defence. With a brief to design and build four recruitment centres in four cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, this project showcases Unispace’s best practice in design, project management and delivery, and the strength of our Australian team’s collaboration.  

We worked with Adecco to choose four new sites in each city. As the future bases of Defence Force Recruiting, they are centrally located within each city making them easy for potential recruits to access.  Defence Force Recruiting has previously taken part within traditional and institutional spaces. Our challenge was to help Adecco modernize their space and processes to attract talent. The new centres needed places where recruits would feel at ease while learning about joining the Navy, Army or Airforce. We aimed to design spaces that feel welcoming, rather than corporate, as this can be intimidating for people. We designed four immersive, inclusive and culturally relevant spaces to suit recruits and Adecco staff to work most effectively.

Inclusive design for recruits and staff from all backgrounds  

Connection to place, local community and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander culture was a key guiding principle of this project. Adecco needed spaces that would welcome people of all backgrounds, at all stages of the recruitment process, about to embark upon a life-changing career. The color palette is grounded in tones of the Australian landscape, from the rich, earthy reds of Lake Macleod in Western Australia to the deep blues of the Sydney Harbour. Key to the build was supporting First Nations-owned businesses and suppliers, including art sourced from local Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander artists from each site's location and hand-woven pendant lighting hanging in the entry spaces designed and made by Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander groups across Australia.  

The reception desk and digital display on arrival is the first point of contact for guests and candidates helping them to navigate and immerse themselves in the recruitment centre, while providing a welcoming and inclusive environment. Curved architectural elements of the spaces and the use of natural greenery soften the spaces for a more homely and inviting experience for the candidates.      

To help the new workforce come together and help to break down the department silos we provided kitchens and breakout spaces that would encourage collaboration, evoke conversation and contribute to a feeling of warmth within the workplace. 

Each Adecco space features a central immersive hub that guests see as they enter, designed by Unispace & Downstream. The high-tech cylindrical hub involves a large, curved screen with comfortable lounge seating where guests wait and are immersed in a 4D experience. This simulates what their roles could look like one day, adding a contemporary and immersive edge to the recruitment process.  

Precise project management and a true partnership with Adecco 

The four sites were designed in six weeks and delivered simultaneously in a tight timeline of 16 weeks. We worked with Adecco to make smart, progressive budgeting decisions, and coordinated our national team to ensure this project was delivered on time, defect free. In Sydney, 95.3% of waste was diverted from landfill. We ensured long lead times on delivery of furniture and fittings, and engaged early with suppliers, using as many local and First Nations-owned suppliers as possible. 

Unispace’s partnership with Adecco is testament to what can be achieved when our strategy, design and delivery teams work cohesively to generate a brilliant outcome for a client. Adecco’s new recruitment centres will revolutionize how their team works and the future of defence recruitment in Australia.