Medibank Place

Medibank is in the business of promoting better health for everyone. And this is the aspiration that drove Australia’s largest health insurer to create one of the healthiest workplaces in the world.

Medibank’s head office in Melbourne’s Docklands goes beyond conventional Activity Based Working (ABW) to create Health Based Working (HBW) and put the mental and physical health of people at its heart – Medibank’s members, its employees and the community.

From a multi-purpose sports court at ground level to the edible garden and demonstration kitchen promoting healthy eating to countless work settings that allow people to work in ways that best suit them, our design for the building ensures it’s ‘hard-wired for health’.

Thousands of plants on the building’s façade and in the workplace help relieve stress, improves internal air quality and transform views from grey to green – providing welcome relief from Medibank Place’s heavily concreted urban surrounds.

Medibank Place is also a welcoming gateway to the Docklands precinct, offering the public access to a timber amphitheatre, cafes, shops and a public park at ground level.

Client

Cbus Property (developer) / Medibank (anchor tenant)

Location

Melbourne, Australia

Status

Completed

Year

2014

Scale

46,000sqm NLA including 26,000sqm NLA of Medibank Workplace

Collaborators

Chris Connell Design, Studio Ongarato, Kerry Phelan Design Office, Russell & George, Veldhoen + Company

Design team

Mark Loughnan, Ingrid Bakker, Robert Backhouse, Steve Coster, Anthony Dickens, Travis Hemley, Robin Deutschmann, David Andrew, Kevin Cullis, Matthew Mackay, Mary Papaioannou, Harley Vincent, Trevor Coolledge, Jacqui Low, Ian Grant, Joel Sampson, Greta Stoutjesdijk, Allison Armstrong, Yi Zhen Kueh, Brenton Beggs, Andrea Giuradei, Benjamin Kronenberg, Bethany Mann, Biljana Lojanica, David Simpson, Ecknaathh Bala, Harry Hrissis, Hendy Wijaya, Horaci Sanchez, Jack Barlow, Julia Zaritaskaja, Maria Bauer, Michael Fouche, Molly Hibberd, Patrick Hamilton, Darren Paul, Pauline Vivaldi, Robbi Peirce, Shalom Ling Choong, Simon Rich, Steven Paul, Stuart Dow

Imagery

Earl Carter

“It epitomises our purpose and values and all that we stand for.”

Kylie Bishop Executive General Manager, People & Culture Medibank

79% of employees reported working more collaboratively

70% reported feeling healthier

66% said they were more productive

More than 26 types of work settings – from indoor quiet spaces to collaborative hubs to wifi-enabled balconies
Internal vertical connection via two continuous stairs that make it easier to walk than get the lift
A main-entrance ramp providing easy access to bike storage
Circadian lighting mimics natural daylight patterns, supporting people’s biorhythms
2,300 interior plants inside and 520 plants on the façade, plus two 25-metre high green walls

A highly collaborative design process meant architects and landscape architects contributed to the workplace interiors, interior designers and architects to the park, and all three disciplines to the base building design.

We also invited three very different interior design firms – Chris Connell Design, Kerry Phelan Design Office and Russell and George – to collaborate on the design for the plaza level in the middle of the tower. This created diversity of spaces and layers of character and meaning to inspire people to connect in new ways.

Topics

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