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VGW Sydney was one of the first commercial workplace projects Cerulean took on as a firm, and where better to start than the iconic Grosvenor Place?
Harry Seidler designed it as 44 storeys curving in a twin crescent along George Street, with column-free floorplates and a sprawling view overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. VGW, our client, moved in around 2012 and took up half of Level 44, on the north side. By 2024, their team had outgrown the tenancy and expanded to occupy the whole floor.
The south side comprised of four existing suites already fitted out, while the original north side tenancy needed refurbishing. The brief was not simply to join the two halves together. It was to turn them into one cohesive workplace for the whole team, across roughly 1,980 sqm, without disrupting the floors above and below.
Cerulean was engaged immediately after the business case was approved. We wrote the functional brief, appointed the consultant team, managed design, took the documentation through Landlord approvals, ran the construction tender, and saw the works through to handover.
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Product companies often work in short cycles; they ship, they learn, and they improve what they shipped. They also bring a diverse stakeholder group into the room for feedback. On a workplace project for a business like VGW, technology, security, workplace experience and the business unit leads all hold a real stake in the outcome and have a voice in the process.
A building programme is often more linear, and slower by nature. The design must be coordinated before the market can price it, following which trades are sequenced based on methodology and site constraints, with long lead items ordered months before anyone sees them installed.
The key is to never lose sight of the fact that programmes are met by people, not just by schedules. Our part was to get decisions in front of the right people at the right time while enabling them to decide, but the project only held its programme because VGW made those calls when it counted, and the builder kept pace alongside them.
The outcome? A project that landed on programme and under budget.
We ran a single point of coordination. A client team spread across offices generates a great deal of good thinking, and the value lies in gathering and streamlining information, rather than fielding it piece by piece. All our communication was routed through a single channel, with a Cerulean recommendation attached, which ultimately translated into decisions that the whole group could see.
We put technology and security into the brief on day one. For a business of this kind, they are not a services package bolted on at the end, because they shape the floor itself. Having those teams in the briefing conversation from the start meant the design carried their requirements instead of catching up with them.
We also mapped the decision points early. Every programme has moments where one choice locks the next stage in place. We set those out at the beginning, so the client could plan their own internal cycles around them.
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The completed floor holds more than 120 workstations, all with a universal set up which was an IT driven decision and measure of success. The kitchen and social zones sit in harmony at one end of the floorplate taking advantage of the stunning harbour views. The ‘front of house’ spaces (arrival, boardroom, formal meeting rooms) sit purposefully off the lift lobby and create the arrival experience the client desired.
As a team, the test we set for ourselves was “the seam”.. being able to walk the floor and you shouldn't be able to tell where 2012 ends and 2026 begins.
With the testimonial below, we reckon we passed the test, maybe even with flying colours!
"Working with Cerulean was a positive experience from the outset. Rather than simply asking what we wanted, they drew out our real priorities and pain points around the fit out and shaped them into expert recommendations. With multiple stakeholders involved, their adaptability showed how genuinely invested they were in a seamless project. It always felt as though VGW's interests came first and we got the fit out we wanted, on time and within budget. We wouldn't hesitate to partner with Cerulean again."
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It was a good first one to have and has set us up for every workplace project run in the future.
Before the brief and before the programme, we ask how the business makes a decision and who is in the room when it happens, then we build around that.
🌐 Learn more about Cerulean's work in workplace and fitout projects at www.ceruleanppl.com
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