Will&Co Bondi Beach is an experimental hybrid space – part workplace, part commercial, part educational - in a refurbished beachside building. Designed as company headquarters, showroom, training venue, and branding exercise, it’s inspired by young entrepreneurship, hustle and street art, and defined by its simple palette, and street engagement. The clients were a group of friends behind one of Australia’s leading boutique coffee houses with plans to create a company headquarters. The design needed to reflect but evolve their brand and be a hybrid space in which to welcome customers and more. The site offered great light, views, ventilation and visibility but was sandwiched between a busy hotel and supermarket and dropped off to the east - bringing multiple constraints. Our vision was to create something familiarly Will&Co, yet edgy and new. Our inspiration included artists Donald Judd and Rachel Whiteread. Colour and material palettes would be kept simple. Exposed and painted recycled brick, blue rendered walls with tiles, polished concrete and blue powder-coated steel, brass, stained oak and birch ply and leather all feature. An open mezzanine level cum company headquarters was positioned to the rear, a private meeting room, showcase and wet areas sequenced to the south and the remainder was left open for maximum efficiency and fluidity. A centrally placed and exaggeratedly large Marblo resin coffee counter works as the pulsing heart, showpiece, key operational area, training zone and main counter. Facades wrapped in retractable glass and seating ribboned along both elevations allows maximum street activation. Will&Co Bondi Beach is a design experiment; a purpose-designed space for something very different. The owners wanted a venue that, creatively, “no one has ever seen before” and, functionally, was untried – a hybrid typology seamlessly marrying a commercial space appealing to B2B and B2C clients, with an environment conducive to educational and community activities, alongside a clearly branded corporate headquarters/showroom reflecting the company’s evolution. Will&Co needed to actively engage within its context. The project required a unique design solution, advancing the idea of interior design practice through rigorous analysis of how to make comfortable bed-mates of non-traditional partnering spaces. Ample natural light, tonal blues, murals from local artists, a unique resin coffee bar, recycled and sustainable materials all reflect Will&Co’s coastal lifestyle brand and ensure a fluid venue, comprising of cleverly separated spaces for diverse functions in one void.
Will&Co. Coffee Bondi
Alexander & Co.
Bronze

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Designer
Client
Will&Co.
Floor area
150 ㎡
Completion
2020
Principal
Associate Designer