The commercial office sector has always raved about global workplaces with leading-edge environments – Facebook MPK, Googleplex etc. But who would have thought the equivalent could be found here in New Zealand – and from a law firm at that!
When I first came across Meredith Connell, as it then was, their home on Shortland Street couldn't have been more cellular, inefficient and uninspiring.
Rightly, MC, as it is branded today, identified its office premises as a vehicle for change so the move to the NZME building on Victoria Street in 2016 transformed the organisation with its open, fresh, flexible and engaging space. Many thought that would be it, but success breeds success and now MC has again made a quantum leap forward with its new larger, innovative workplace at the MC Centre, 8 Hardinge Street in Auckland.
TwentyTwo supported MC with the process of delivering great property outcomes – from site identification and lease agreement and commercial support to determining the workplace aspiration and procuring the top design and project talent.
A new benchmark in NZ
With each step MC took with this project, the firm looked to test the typical way, instead asking ‘how can we be different?’. Directed by the exceptional leadership of MC’s Managing Partner Steve Haszard and Chief Executive Kylie Mooney, the brief for this workplace project from the outset was based on ‘what does the future of professional services look like?’, ‘how do we attract and retain the best talent?’, ‘what does sustainability and wellbeing really mean to us?’ and, most interestingly in a C-19 world, ‘how do we compete with home?’.
“Seeing this space grow and come to life has been an amazing experience. I have witnessed first-hand the benefits of being surrounded by plants and the positive benefits they can provide for employees, resulting in an increase in productivity, creativity and higher job satisfaction, enabling employers to retain talent for a longer time” says Kylie.
”As Aotearoa’s biggest litigation firm by far, we made an early decision the MC Centre would be primarily designed to appeal to New Zealand’s best litigators and other legal talent in their 20s and early 30s rather than to impress corporate clients. Our objective is that its current and future staff can be assured they will be operating out of the best work environment in New Zealand. David Lambie and TwentyTwo have been instrumental in the extraordinary transformation of not just our buildings but our entire firm culture over the last six years.”
The image speaks for itself and, in our view, this workplace really is the new benchmark for the future of work and the leading workplace environment in New Zealand.
Our admiration for the leadership of Steve and Kylie and the MC team knows no limits, nor does our respect for the remarkably talented design team (led by Jasmax and The Building Intelligence Group) that made this project so successful. For many, this project will be a career highlight and we are certainly delighted to have played a part in it.
About the author
Has four kids and a cat (and a wife!). Fancies himself as a professional athlete. Rugby/cricket tragic. Always dieting (generally involving Heineken). Needs 'a plan'. Trying to broaden his wardrobe.
David joined TwentyTwo in 2015 and has 30 years of property experience, with particular knowledge in large scale developments, property strategy, partnering agreements, development feasibility, asset investment/divestment strategies, project procurement and complex building projects. David acts as TwentyTwo’s “head of consulting” working with all practice leads to imbed best practice consulting across all of our service areas, supporting key clients and projects and growing our long term partnerships.
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