One40 William St

One40 William St is the new Perth home for the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, together with the METRONET and Westport divisions of the Department of Transport. Hames Sharley was asked to bring one full agency and two parts of another into a single location, and the result is the largest fully Activity Based Working environment delivered for the WA government. The brief called for a workplace for 900 people across 7,000sqm over two floors, designed around the very different needs of its occupants and reflecting a fresh identity for a workforce whose remit runs from state planning reform and the repatriation of Aboriginal artefacts to the creation of new ports, trainlines and urban centres.

The existing fitout came with real problems: poor acoustics, heavy and unappealing use of plywood, a perceived lack of light, and a large floorplate that did little to connect people. The team also had to win over staff who had already lived through several organisational changes and were wary of more disruption. Staying true to the practice's habit of listening closely and solving problems alongside the client, Hames Sharley ran a programme of interviews and workshops, and shaped a design that the large majority of staff supported despite any change fatigue.

Working to a tight budget, and with three quarters of the workforce still using the building throughout, the team delivered a fitout that reads as entirely new. Wherever it made sense, the existing built form was retained to keep costs down and improve sustainability, with high impact additions such as large boardrooms and kitchens layered on top. Small moves mattered too: every task chair, for example, was replaced with one of the highest ergonomically rated options available.

The finished workplace is organised into six distinct zones around a single high-capacity kitchen hub. A clear requirement was that government should feel anything but bland and beige, so bold colour and finishes, vibrant graphics and wayfinding, and Reconciliation Action Plan artwork commissioned by DPLH combine to tell the story of the wide range of work handled by all three agencies.

Architect: Hames Sharley. Strategic briefing and workplace design: Stephen Moorcroft, Hames Sharley. Photography: Douglas Mark Black.