Landscape as a blueprint

The project, a collaboration between Woods Bagot’s Perth and Adelaide studios, repositions one of Perth’s most significant corporate spaces through a lens of profound connection to place. Rather than imposing a generic corporate aesthetic, the design team crafted a narrative deeply rooted in the Western Australian landscape, creating what they term interconnected ‘villages’ that mirror the natural communities found across the state’s diverse geography. 

The design draws from four distinct environmental experiences that define Western Australia’s character. Site (Boodja) grounds the space in deep textures and carved forms, reflecting the raw beauty of the land. Country (Boorna) embraces biophilic design with accents inspired by native flora, creating refuge and escape within the corporate environment. Port (Wardan) channels the working waterways s through deep and patina hues and honest detailing that celebrates functional design. City represents the client’s global reach while maintaining its roots in local identity through structured, efficient workspace design. 

This aesthetic storytelling is a strategic approach to workplace design that acknowledges the duality between intimate human scale and the vastness of the landscapes where the client operates. The result is a space where a site worker feels as welcome as a corporate executive, achieved through carefully chosen raw materials, including nickel displays in the lobby and repurposed furniture and fixtures from site offices positioned throughout the space. The design is a canvas for thoughtful art curation, including commissioned First Nations artworks and vivid large-scale photography from the client’s operational sites. 

The village concept operates at multiple scales. At the macro level, the building functions as one large ecosystem, comprised of six villages grouped across three adjoining floors. Each village creates its own community, with typical work floors supporting hybrid working, a central ‘Village Green’ serving as the heart of each community, and dispersed collaboration spaces connected by centralised stairs and lifts. 

The crown jewel of this vertical landscape is Level 45’s Sky Terrace—a triple-height space with panoramic views that transforms the building’s summit into an employee-centric indoor community hub. Here, expansive views connect occupants to the Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River) while offering diverse spaces for social connection, focused work, and contemplation. It’s workplace design that recognises the psychological importance of horizon lines and natural light in a city where both are abundant. 

Sustainability was a driving principle throughout the design that is projected to achieve a 6-Star Green Star Interiors rating and 5-Star NABERS Energy rating. Through significant reuse of existing materials, services, and furniture, the design team was able to divert 97% of construction waste from landfill. Materials were repurposed from the client’s site offices, creating tangible connections between headquarters and operational locations across Western Australia.