Holder East Workplace
Holder East engaged Fender Katsalidis to design their new headquarters at 170 Queen Street, Melbourne. The light and tonal office deliberately juxtaposes the urban backdrop of Melbourne’s CBD, delivering a calm and inviting workplace through a restrained design language and palette.
The internal planning reflects the client’s brief to create a relaxed and timeless workplace with an area for entertaining clients and visitors. The floorplate is laid into two zones, front-of-house and back-of-house, delineating spaces for breakout, collaboration, socialisation and work. The interior design takes cues from the building’s architecture, recreating large steel framed partitions and doors along corridors and between the two zones, allowing sightlines and natural light to filter throughout the office.
At the ceiling level, services are exposed and treated, allowing elements such as ductwork to be delicately balanced with refined materials, creating a rich and layered space.
The arrival experience is an open, naturally lit space defined by sculptural furnishings and brass-accented joinery. Rounded venetian plaster walls, fine-grain terrazzo tiles and light linen drapery feature throughout, creating a serene and sophisticated language that lives across the workplace.
With hints of a residential undertone, the kitchen bar area features a generously oversized stone breach with tonal grey cabinetry. The monolithic structure of the bench creates a natural anchor point in the kitchen that intuitively draws people in.
