Briscoe, Wattle Street, Sydney, NSW

The Independent Education Union (IEU) acquired the heritage listed Briscoe building in Ultimo in early 2012 to relocate all of their Sydney staff and to position themselves between the UTS, Sydney University and Notre Dame, simultaneously improving their proximity to central station, and providing a bespoke working environment (resulting in increased productivity) that was not able to be realised from their previous premises.

NDY was engaged by IEU via Crawford Architects to provide all core building services.

From Shell and Core to Fitout

Totalling an area in excess of 2,000 m² over three levels, the building was brought into a shell and core condition and totally stripped of its building services.

NDY’s scope included the design of the building services plant rooms, the vertical infrastructure, and the floor distribution systems to meet both the building’s characteristics and specific fitout requirements.

The interior design was characterised by the following areas: office pods, breakout and kitchen areas, open plan areas, boardroom, training room, amenities and reception.

Heritage-Listing and Exposed Services

The fitout was designed to preserve and showcase the heritage features of the building, such as an internal wooden staircase and a hydraulic lift, built throughout the three levels of the building. Wall bricks, wooden columns and the timber joists on the ceiling between the floors were left exposed.

Following the same theme, the building services were designed with a mix of hidden and exposed services running in coordination with the building structure and interior design.

A Complex Fire Engineering Solution

Due to the heritage listing of the building and its specific location amongst other surrounding buildings, NDY developed a fire engineering solution to the satisfaction of the NSW Fire Brigade. This meant designing the building services in a unique way to meet both the architectural brief and the requirements of the fire engineering report.