WorleyParsons opens up

With record high demand for office space and new stock yet to become available, companies across Perth's CBD are undertaking major refits of their workspaces.

Engineering firm WorleyParsons is one of those companies, having completed a multi-million dollar fit-out of 7,200 square metres of space across four floors at its QV1 offices.

Designed by St Georges Terrace-based Marshall Kusinski Design Consultants, the fit-out aimed to open up the space and allow more interaction between staff.

A key part of this was changing the layout of workstations, from rectangular cubicles with partitions to an open, radial design, which could more easily accommodate 600 employees.

It also created a less regimented work area and improved the use of space.

Sustainable materials were used for the workstations, while dual purpose storage units were installed to function as extra work spaces.

Director Kathy Kusinski said a number of businesses in the mining and engineering sectors were undergoing office refits at the moment, due to the widespread shortage of office space in the city.

"With the lack of availability of new space, a lot of companies are refurbishing to make the best use of the space they have," she said.

Under the new layout, the main corporate floor has a total of eight meeting rooms, while each of the three project floors has its own meeting room with audio-visual equipment.

In addition, each floor has a separate staff hub containing kitchen facilities and televisions, which screen Foxtel.

Only a few individual offices have been retained, with most converted to the radial design.

Ms Kusinski said flexibility was a key element of the fit-out, to allow furniture and work stations to be adapted as required by staff.

"There's a greater emphasis on meeting areas and the need for a fairly robust fit-out, because there's a lot of movement of staff," she said.

Meanwhile, WorleyParsons is also planning the fit-out of its new space at the Bishops See stage one tower.

The company's business services coordinator, Diane Grant, said while a similar workstation layout would be used in the new offices, the finishings would be different and the project would have a greater emphasis on sustainability.

While a small amount of artwork has been bought for the QV1 offices, Ms Grant said the company was yet to complete its fit-out in that regard.

Meanwhile, other QV1 tenants are undertaking office fit-outs, with oil and gas giant Chevron planning a major refit of four floors in the building.

The WorleyParsons fit-out was completed in November.