Young design directors, Sandra Furtado and Niall Durney are leading the practice’s organisational culture transformation, and their new studio at Sydney’s World Square is a definite physical representation of Crone's cultural shift.
For 25 years, Crone has been in its Kent Street premises where the staff were spread over three levels. There was little connection between the practice and visiting clients, which prompted the search for a new location. They had been eyeing the Transport House in York Street, but its sudden unavailability made them follow up on a tip to check out the Ernst & Young (EY) commercial tower at World Square, in which the two immediately saw the possibilities and potential to represent the practice’s paradigm shift.
“I call this the warehouse in the sky,” says Furtado. “It gives you a sense of being in a creative, collaborative space, like an industrial space.”
Consequently, the space has been turned into a calm and quiet place which relays the new culture - one which Furtado calls “holistic, design-driven emphasising the need for the architects to be across all aspects of design and buildability.”
“We are trying,” says Durney, “to design an office which is agile and design-focused. The thing about the fit-out is that everything looks temporary. It’s a light touch within the space.” The space’s flexibility is suited for a constantly changing practice.
Image source: Katherine Lu
Article source: https://www.indesignlive.com/the-work/crone-architects-warehouse-sky?
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