Molecule Studio has designed the new workplace for wealth management firm, Escala Partners, located in Sydney, Australia.

A new workplace for wealth management firm, Escala Partners, this project in the Sydney CBD represents a significant interstate expansion for the growing company.

The client brief was create a sibling space to the Melbourne HQ (completed by Molecule in 2013), both in functional brief and aesthetic design. The 450sqm commercial tenancy provided a similar substrate for the Sydney project and an opportunity for us to refine and re-investigate our design ideas in a new context. Our primary focus was to achieve a unique identity for the Sydney workplace, without creating a major deviation from the design characteristics executed in the original HQ.

The space planning approach to the Sydney space capitalizes on the strong entry axis from the lift lobby and the iconic harbor views. Clients are welcomed into a generous reception area and lounge, a flexible space which is used for informal client meetings and evening functions. The boardroom and several smaller meeting rooms are positioned adjacent to the facade, capturing glimpses of the sparkling Sydney harbor through a Manhattan-like skyscraper landscape in the foreground.

The reception joinery, a nine-meter-long element in timber veneer and marble, is utilized as a backdrop to the client lounge space and as a spatial divider to the workspace beyond. Pivot panels enable controlled connecting views through to the substantial staff kitchen and café where the timber floor boards and veneer joinery continue a palette of richness and formality.

The introduction of new luxury materials into the finishes palette are in deliberate reference to the Sydney coastal landscape and its geological context: teal-green upholstery, caramel leather, dark stained timber veneer and sandstone-inspired Palomino marble create a subtle tuning and differentiation from the navy, tan and rosewood tones of the Melbourne office.

The two workplaces sit with the dialogue of close siblings, sharing the same design principles and brand philosophy, but each with an atmosphere that is uniquely their own.

Designer: Molecule Studio

Contractor: Shape Construction

Photography: Prue Ruscoe

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