FEATURE: Perth's newest office buildings are increasingly incorporating retail and hospitality precincts, as well as end-of-trip facilities, in a design-led effort to boost tenant and employee retention.
Perth's newest office buildings are increasingly incorporating retail and hospitality precincts, as well as end-of-trip facilities, in a design-led effort to boost tenant and employee retention.
Woods Bagot associate Eva Sue said the establishment of the highly regarded hospitality precinct at Brookfield Place was an indication of tenants’ expectations of their new office accommodation.
From a design point of view, Ms Sue said the aim was to create a ‘home away from home’ for office tenants.
“It’s about bringing hospitality to the office and bringing the office to hospitality,” Ms Sue told Business News.
“It’s going back to the roots of what a really good community is, and providing something unique by tapping into people’s emotional needs.”
Ms Sue said end-of-trip facilities had also become an industry standard to boost the amenity of office buildings.
The facilities have become much more than just a bike rack and a shower in the basement, with Woods Bagot’s latest project, the end-of-trip facility at The Quadrant, resembling a hotel or high-end gym or day spa.
Services that have become standard include towel services, hair dryers, dry cleaning, as well as bike repair stations.
Leighton Properties Kings Square project director Bradley Norris agreed that a high level of amenity was a market expectation.
At Kings Square, Mr Norris said the development of four office towers simultaneously gave Leighton the opportunity to create a fully integrated precinct with retail, hospitality and business services in the one location.
The leasing campaign for the retail and hospitality component at Kings Square is in full swing, with 60 per cent of the tenancies already pre-committed.
Retail and hospitality businesses confirmed to go into Kings Square include a tavern run by prominent hospitality firm Gastevski Group, as well as a Buggles Childcare Centre and a 24-hour Surge Health and Fitness gym.
Mr Norris said business services such as banks, a newsagent and a post office would also be incorporated into the Kings Square precinct.
“We try and focus on having everything in the one place to increase productivity for the employees as well as the businesses in that location, and having all of those services really does increase that,” Mr Norris said.
“It is driven on the tenant side, we’ve seen that in the market; every time we’ve talked to tenants they have said they want that flexibility to provide amenity to their employees.”
The other major design expectation from tenants, according to QUBE Property Group director James Collis, is energy and floorplate efficiency.
Mr Collis said developers were increasingly choosing side-core designs, rather than the traditional centre core, to maximise the amount of natural light that can penetrate the building.
“If you look at a brand new A-grade building with a 4.5-5 star NABERS rating and you compare it to a building that was built 15 or 20 years ago to an A-grade standard, they’re really chalk and cheese,” Mr Collis said.
“Every aspect of the building has been improved, and that’s what you would expect over time I suppose, but every aspect of the building from an environmental and a cultural aspect is better.”