EY Melbourne Reimagined

As COVID hit the project was in it's inception, which became a catalyst to scrutinise what the in-person meeting experience will be going forward. As a project team we decided against extensive refurbishment of spaces designed to house over 100 people to avoid widescale engineering upgrades & substantial demolition. We have therefore retained the carbon in-situ for another lease term. Smaller, personal spaces were prioritised with technology and acoustic enhancements to support hybrid working. Gensler were also asked to consider EY’s DE&I goals in increasing supplier diversity and physically representing their goals to be a leader in supporting sustainability and diversity.

Through the methods of stringent adaptive re-use, collaborating with local First Nations suppliers and designing for a range of flexible scenarios, Gensler have created a future-focused space for EY which showcases the brand’s DE&I core values to staff and visitors. The space is designed to welcome visitors with a warm friendly environment, with the user experience able to be curated and changeable so that each experience is rich, varied and personal. All spaces and furniture in the front of house areas are modular and mobile, including the reception desks, which allows ultimate flexibility and adaptability for EY's client service team.

The project allowed us the opportunity to analyse why we, as an industry, design to demolish for pure aesthetic, detrimental to our environment. Through adaptive reuse and repurposing of existing elements, the design challenges the traditional client facing refurbishment which usually results in complete demolition. This project is unique globally for EY - it celebrates and actively supports local and Indigenous suppliers. Over 70% of our furniture suppliers are certified Indigenous ownership suppliers through Supply Nation, with one lighting supplier, a cleaning contractor and artwork supplier also falling under this certification scheme.

As a project, it acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land on which this workplace sits, the Peoples of the Kulin Nation, In the main reception a sculpture was created by a community collective of local First Nation women and trans women artists called Ngardang Girri Kalat Mimini, reinterpreting the Story of the Iuk (river eel). This intergenerational approach resonated with the original project goals. Our design supports a resilient future as an adaptive re-use project that protected and utilised existing features of high embodied energy such as stone floors, aluminium partitioning and glass, stair structure, mechanical services and stacked stone walls. Existing fabric wrapped sliding door joinery was retained and recovered, high quality furniture was reused and refurbished. All original lighting has been replaced with energy efficient alternatives. We retained, but reimagined, finishes to create a completely new and distinct experience, 15 years later, using simple & noninvasive overlays, curtains and additional elements to extend or enhance the features.