A 10 Year Milestone – Mancini Made Unveils New Melbourne Office

On its 10th anniversary, award-winning Melbourne-based design and construction firm Mancini Made – which specialises in the design and build of high-end homes, townhouses and apartments – has more than one reason to celebrate. Its new purpose-built office, designed in collaboration with renowned landscape design studio Eckersley Garden Architecture, takes a leaf out of the Mancini Made’s decade-long legacy of delivering high-quality built environments.

The company’s tenets, namely innovative design, meticulous craft and precision construction, are writ large across its headquarters. The interior treatments, most of them bespoke, include American oak and laminate joinery, Cambia ash ceilings, goat hair carpets from Tretford, polished marble tables and leather banquette seating. Surrounding the office, lush landscaping designed in a creative collaboration with Eckersley Garden Architecture creates an inspiring and immersive environment, with an outdoor workspace nestled beneath a leafy canopy and a selection of native and exotic plants that interweave to frame edited views of the city skyline. Together, the HQ’s internal and external spaces hold a mirror to the Mancini Made’s standard of design excellence and precision construction expertise.

In a reflection of the firm’s time-served ethos, the office raises the bar for custom design and precision construction, as evidenced by the fact that every last centimetre is maximised to meet the needs of the business and staff.

The entryway blurs the boundary between the interior and the outdoors, with a lush, green space playing host to minimalist pots and planters and layers of foliage that changes. The sanctuary-like setting, characteristic of Eckersley Garden Architecture’s approach to design, channels a peace and calm emblematic of the ideal Mancini Made workday. Once inside, in a reflection of the firm’s time-served ethos, the office raises the bar for custom design and precision construction, as evidenced by the fact that every last centimetre is maximised to meet the needs of the business and staff. The layout is outfitted with meeting rooms, workstations and conversation areas that encourage client and staff engagement. A touchscreen television, home automation and a Sonos sound system all help in creating a stimulating and enjoyable workspace. A fully-equipped kitchen – which connects to a wrap-around balcony with indoor and outdoor spaces for dining and discussion – serves as a happy remedy for hunger pangs at work.

For the designers at Mancini Made, the initial spatial constraints were tackled with a blueprint that prioritised light and open layouts. The result, achieved through the installation of fine steel and fluted glass frames, is an atmosphere where light and shadow mingle easily, presenting interludes that masquerade as pauses. Most mornings, sunlight permeates the farthest corners of the room, serving as a balance to the dark colour palette, which is both moody and nostalgic. In a departure from typical office settings, the shell is highly textured, with bold material choices that nod to the exterior landscape, and with natural elements at such close quarters, it is hard to tell where, or whether, the built form ends and the outdoors begin.

Demonstrating the combination of custom design and precision construction that Mancini Made aspires to in all its projects, the HQ was nominated at the 2023 Master Builders Awards for Best Office Renovation/Addition Under $300,000. Working in collaboration with Eckersley Garden Architecture, Mancini Made has crafted itself a new home that inspires and delights in equal measure.