Relocation to a developing suburb of Southbank supports future growth
Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, used by over 10,000 organizations, ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises.
With an imminent lease expiry and rapid growth forecast, it was essential for Workday to find a new space that would accommodate its future requirements. The relocation to Southbank created an opportunity for a new office space to become a manifestation of its Core Values, particularly Employees, Fun, & Innovation. It is this ethos that has been fundamental to Workday’s continued success: assisting in the attraction and retention of talent, fostering innovation, and delivering great customer service.
Collaborating with Workday’s global stakeholder group, Unispace set out to create a space that was fit for the future and addressed key organizational values, such as reflecting Workday’s people and culture, enablement through technology, choice and flexibility and wellbeing for both its people and the environment.
From inception our aim was to create an environment that fosters connection, inspires its people, and epitomizes fun. Recognizing the importance of cross-team collaboration, we set out to design a space that encourages these vital elements of successful teamwork.
Within the Workday office, you'll find a carefully curated blend of conference, huddle, scrum, and phone rooms, all equipped with cutting-edge technology that enhances productivity and connectivity. Plug-n-play technology ensures a hassle-free experience, allowing Workmates to set up their devices quickly and effortlessly to start their work.
To meet the evolving needs of the Workday team, our design approach emphasized flexibility and adaptability. We created spaces that empower employees to choose where and how they work, enabling them to optimize their productivity and creativity for the task at hand. With a future-focused mindset, we ensured these spaces can easily adapt to support Workday's growth and changing demands now and into the future.
Workday’s vision brought to life
Working in collaboration with the Workday Brisbane team, we conducted visioning workshops around color and bespoke murals that would enhance the space. We partnered with Patch Creative Co, a multidisciplinary creative service agency that brilliantly captured Workday’s people and culture in a fun, Original and dynamic way. Blank walls were brought to life with iconic and historical elements of Brisbane, peppered with pop culture references. Symbolic of flowing data and the Brisbane River, they developed a wonderfully organic ribbon device that flows throughout the murals and printed graphics in the space.
Nature and our innate desire to connect with the environment around us was at the heart of our design concept. Greenery and warm timbers work cohesively with various shades of blue and green, creating a joyful and vibrant setting for the murals to sing. The blues and greens take visual cues from the Brisbane River and surrounding parklands (with some creative license).
The environment was also considered from a sustainability aspect. We strove for sustainable materials and incorporated furniture re-use, as well as the re-use of base building infrastructure and finishes where possible.
Fostering fun, with spaces for socialization and collaboration
Workday’s new kitchen breakout space, with a private external balcony, boasts superb views of the city and Brisbane River. It creates opportunities for socialization and connection amongst peers and is a fantastic space to host events and employee town halls.
With the Brisbane office being home to a global development and support team for Adaptive Planning, it felt only natural to create a flexible and fun space that reinforces the ideal balance of work and play. Table tennis, video games, board games, musical instruments and a multitude of Lego sit amongst a bespoke, hand painted mural that embodies fun! Central to the games zone is a custom storage unit covered in Lego base plates – a blank canvas for the imagination to run wild with 3D Lego art.
Bringing these elements of play into the office encourages employees to interact in other ways, fostering workplace friendships that lead to fantastic business outcomes and interpersonal teamwork. We are proud to have worked with Workday to achieve a unique, vibrant, and lively office space that reflects its brand, culture, and values.
