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A Healthy Workplace – Zero Gipps by SJB
A new office building that is perfectly knitted within its inner-north Melbourne context, Zero Gipps is about supporting the wellness of both the environment and the people who work in the building. Approaching completion in 2024, SJB is creating a space that both feels good to work in and is sustainable.
This new workplace is located within a rich locale on Gipps Street in Collingwood, which is home to many warehouse buildings, bustling with creatives who work in the area and lined with vibrant hospitality venues down its many laneways. The brief was about creating an uplifting workplace environment that encourages wellness and a healthy lifestyle, and promotes initiatives like walking and cycling. A restrained palette that has a natural and neutral feel and a simple brick façade are complemented by a robust inner materiality. Locally sourced clay and materials from the earth with a low embodied energy are used throughout.
SJB sought to rethink traditional office design that often appears sterile and cramped, instead aiming to create something unique. A primary feature that helps achieve this is the splitting of the building into two distinct sections. Separating the building in this way welcomes a beautiful light atrium and garden in between the two main structures, with linking bridges that connect the components. The beautiful garden gives a sanctuary-like feel within the office space and naturally becomes the heart of the building.
The name given to the building – Zero Gipps – derives from the building’s sustainability mission, a nod to zero operational emissions and zero gas. The office will source its power from renewable sources and solar panels that will line the roof. Operability is also considered, with natural ventilation accessible throughout as well as an abundance of natural light.
SJB also considers the heritage of the area and the site. The original property housed a beautiful warehouse with very unique linear proportions. SJB decided to keep this old building despite it not being heritage-listed, retaining it for its bones and the cohesion it offers with the streetscape. A new addition is built on top, meaning there are glimpses of the new among memories of the old. Similarly, SJB reinterprets the many sawtooth roof warehouses in Collingwood in a very subtle way – the brickwork mirrors the zigzag configuration.
Eloquently demonstrating how a building can be beneficial for its occupants and the earth, SJB hopes to inspire more office buildings of this calibre. Zero Gipps simultaneously offers a unique place to work, supports health and wellbeing, and, ultimately, is a space people enjoy coming to.
