Carpe Diem Community, International Towers, Tower Two

Geyer with International Towers
Australia

Carpe Diem is a watershed in the design and delivery of workspaces – a completely new concept in the context of commercial real estate. Built over two levels, levels 30 and 31 of Tower Two, International Towers at Barangaroo in Sydney, it is a contemporary environment of ten small-scale, pre-fitted workspaces created to provide smaller, progressive enterprises with a world-class workspace and facilities of timeless beauty and enduring quality.

The vision was to enable the growth of enterprises, foster culture, improve resource and capital utilisation, support higher levels of talent attraction and retention, and deliver rare opportunities to benefit from industry-leading space management and award-winning design and technology overlays.

The Carpe Diem business model is game changing. For the first time, the built workplace environment plays an active role in the success of its inhabitants. Rather than traditional tenants, working in confinement and isolation in a fixed allocation of space, enterprises take on the role of custodians and the accountability to respect their physical space and contribute to the vitality and success of the collective community. It is driven by a values-based culture and positive community leadership that influences and changes behaviours.

This new custodian-community model includes a curated approach to tenancy, fostering collaboration opportunities that don’t exist in traditional workplaces. Carpe Diem responds to a profound shift in workplace culture away from rigid constructs and hierarchical models towards an informal, democratic and social experience, which inspires innovation and creative thinking, supports mental and physical wellness, and creates a powerful sense of belonging.

The design of Carpe Diem is a multi-layered, plug-and-play, future-proof approach to solving the deeply complex commercial and societal challenges of the next decade. By irreversibly and seamlessly entwining wellness, commercial and environmental sustainability, community and hospitality with the built form, Carpe Diem eliminates the unethical and costly design obsolescence found in typical commercial workspaces, introducing a new, progressive mindset of tenant enterprises acting as workspace custodians and community partners.

Furniture: Unifor, Vitra, Living Edge, Stylecraft, Mobilia, DesignFARM, Jardan, Wilkhahn, ACG Fire and Security, Posh Services. Lighting: Llight. Finishes: Jeb, Arden Engineering, Euroline, Eco Outdoor, RC+D, SE Timber. Artwork: Jason Wing, Brian Robinson and Christopher Pease.

Photography: Richard Glover