Located at 120 Collins Street, the Bates Smart-designed workplace draws on the character of its prestigious address while taking a more relaxed approach to the interiors. For Bates Smart director Brenton Smith, the aim was to communicate the firm’s identity through an environment that balances authority with approachability.
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“A workplace interior is certainly a window into the culture and personality of a business. For Corrs, we wanted people to immediately understand the firm’s confidence, professionalism and commitment to excellence, but also its warmth and generosity,” he says. “It was important that this didn’t feel like a conventional office. The experience is intentionally hospitality-led, more akin to being welcomed into someone’s home than arriving in a workplace. Every element is designed to create a sense of comfort, connection and genuine hospitality.”
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This particular sensibility is expressed through a sequence of spaces that unfold from a concierge-style reception to private dining rooms, meeting suites and seminar spaces. Operable walls allow spaces to shift between intimate gatherings and larger events, giving the workplace the flexibility to accommodate the many ways the firm brings people together.
The design also takes its cues from the grandeur of Collins Street itself. “The design draws on the rhythm of Collins Street through a sequence of portals, thresholds and framed moments of arrival that create a sense of procession as you move through the space,” Smith says.
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“Expansive views across the city bring a sense of urban grandeur to the interior,” he says.
A significant shift from Bates Smart’s earlier Sydney workplace for Corrs is the treatment of the workfloors, which were designed before the client-facing spaces. Here, the hospitality influence extends beyond reception and meeting rooms into the everyday experience of staff. Bates Smart designed custom workstations that were conceived as furniture rather than infrastructure.
“That approach led to innovations such as transforming the traditional power pole into a sculptural lantern, helping create a warmer, more residential environment,” Smith explains.
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Rather than treating hospitality as an aesthetic reserved for client-facing areas, Bates Smart has made it a principle that runs throughout the workplace.
“Hospitality and residential design offer valuable lessons in how to create environments that feel welcoming and approachable, while still expressing the authority, expertise and trust expected of a leading law firm,” Smith says.