Finlaysons Workplace Strategy and Design

Biophilia - use of plants through the space in bespoke column wrapped planters and throughout the open plan office in tambour unit planter boxes.

The extreme sensitivity of much of their work continues to dictate confidential cellular offices, some of which will be shared. A larger percentage of open-plan will support the partner offices that have in part been pulled away from blocking the façade, views and natural light. Collaborative work settings are intended to draw people together when not involved in high focus detailed work and this strengthening of information sharing will help to further enhance Finlaysons’ reputation for excellence in legal training. The central kitchen offers a warm residential environment creating comfortable surroundings for people who typically work very long hours and this has been carried through to the client suite acknowledging that some meetings will involve clients engaged in complex and stressful negotiations.

Finlaysons is a leading independent corporate and commercial law firm in Australia, with offices in Adelaide and Darwin. They work with clients across Australia and internationally. They have a team of 110 staff which includes 22 partners.

The organisation's leadership had a strong desire to use the fit-out as a catalyst for change internally.

The Finlaysons move to two floors of the Uniting Communities building comes at a time of generational change in business ownership and after being in their existing office for many years with minimal change. Hames Sharley undertook a series of leadership interviews with every partner and a vision and tasks workshop with a broader stakeholder group to define the culture and work the future office needs to support. The design outcome reflects the variety of their services that stretches from taxation to space law.

We were able to move to a different ratio of desks vs offices (fewer offices, more workstations) to reflect our more flexible and mobile workforce.
Plus, the fact that the workstations – and other work areas – were spacious, comfortable, and aesthetically pleasing, allowed for a smoother transition for staff moving out of offices and into the open plan work area.

Finlaysons now have the flexibility to work across several spaces. Workstations and offices allow for focused and confidential working, while formal and informal meeting rooms feature collaboration tools, including both the very latest hi-tech IT tools as well as more ‘old school’ tools like integrated whiteboards.

The main challenge was ‘change management’. I.e. although staff wanted to modernise their work environment, nonetheless this involved a shift in culture around how they work, not just a change in the context within which they work.

The successful design and delivery of the fit-out has helped enable this cultural shift. Having fewer offices, and more open space, and smaller offices, and the challenge of storage requirements (now vs future) were just some of the problems.

Hames Sharley designed an environment that allowed for workstations and lots of collaboration spaces with excellent access to natural light, plus workstations that have good functional personal space, with loads of other areas for staff to meet or to work quietly away from desks.

Offices are generally smaller from our previous location; however, these are still suitable sizes. All offices and workstations have sit-to-stand functional desks. All offices and meeting rooms and collab spaces have integrated whiteboards and furniture that is not only functional but looks great!

Hames Sharley was able to design a high-quality and aesthetically pleasing fit-out while being conservative in other areas and having it all seamlessly flow and fit together.