PEOPLE-POWERED PROJECT
With 45,000 square meterage over 35 floors, an emboldened Melbourne CBD location at 555 Collins Street and occupancy rates at delightfully low levels, you’d assume a $1.5 billion commercial tower from Charter Hall would be a successful walk in the park. But the developer is going to great lengths with the design of 555 – as it’s affectionately referred to – to future-proof it for the impending workforce.
Instead of designing a space and then asking tenants to mould into it, Charter Hall is embracing ‘humanistic design’, a people-first approach to ensure every aspect is a positive, empowering and productive experience. The desired result is a development that is high-tech, but also inclusive, community-minded and flexible.
A joint venture between Melbourne-based COX Architecture and global design firm Gensler is spearheading this process. COX has worked with Charter Hall on a number of projects, and Gensler has made a name for itself through extensive research on the ways people interact with retail, hospitality and workspaces, injecting psychology insights into an architectural process.
Regional development director of Charter Hall,
