MessageXchange - Melbourne CBD

MessageXchange - Melbourne CBD

MessageXchange called in the ICON INTERIORS team for help as the existing space was throttling company growth.  The acquisition of a second adjoining tenancy & ICON INTERIORS space planning expertise, we created an additional 13 permanent workspaces, a generous boardroom, meeting room, hot desk space & kitchen breakout.  With our manufacturing capacities, we mimicked their existing desking system. This kept staff disturbance to a minimum during build & enabled us to match the existing over-priced furniture.  Occupied workplace transformations are like heart surgery (!), and this one was no different. ICON INTERIORS Trade Teams worked after hours & weekends to adhere to the building restrictions and requests from the neighbouring tenants.   The project was completed in multiple stages to ensure MessageXchange could remain operational throughout the works. The showstopper of the space is the massive folding glass wall between the boardroom & breakout, enabling them to hold functions and training with ease! Given the nature of their business, acoustic privacy was paramount.  To assist with this, we used perforated laminate ceiling tiles in a hyper-realistic timber look, which also provides a warm feel for the whole space while adding a huge amount of wow factor.

MessageXchange called in the ICON INTERIORS team for help as the existing space was throttling company growth.  The acquisition of a second adjoining tenancy & ICON INTERIORS space planning expertise, we created an additional 13 permanent workspaces, a generous boardroom, meeting room, hot desk space & kitchen breakout. MessageXchange reviewed several providers in the market, and our design stood out from the rest substantially in terms of usability & overall gains in desk spaces & supporting areas. Jan Lim was forensic in the process, and analysed several companies from a cost, trust & expertise point of view, resulting in us being able to take them through the transformation process from concept to completion. 

Adding the 13 additional desks into the space was done smoothly, as we mimicked their existing furniture system which they had purchased from an overpriced supplier recently. This allowed minimal disruption to staff working and means that the new works blend in seamlessly with the existing. We plotted the irregular oval ended acoustic screens & desktops in order for our manufacturing team to create the exact item, colouring matching the Ironstone grey powdercoat and custom coating the frames.

In order to give people a private area to go to for calls and a recharge, we created a Comfort Zone, incorporating EchoPanel  (acoustic panelling) & a padded seat in Laine fabric. This effectively forms a cone of silence, a private space away from the hubbub of the open office. This space doubles as a semi- utilities area which houses a water fountain, paper supplies & a printer.

The boardroom folding glass wall is a stunning machination from Lotus. In order to transport the full height glass doors, which make up the wall, we had to manoeuvre each piece up the fire stair manually with white gloves. The shortcut to this would have been to build a plaster bulkhead and have shorter doors, however we wanted to maximise the sense of scale and the light transmission from the windows. Very user friendly and able to be operated by anyone, it creates a huge space, combining the kitchen/ breakout area and the boardroom. This gives them a hub for any training, events, staff parties and more!

The kitchen sports a classic combination of deep navy, almost black Blue Moon Laminex  & Polar White gloss Polytec. Silver accents in the tapware & sink complete the simple look. The use of push to open mechanism instead of handles ensures there are no handles to distract from the seamless style.

The colour scheme throughout is very sophisticated and simple, consisting of timber tones, black powdercoat, grey carpet & crisp white walls. This is occasionally sprinkled with shades of navy blue to reflect their branding

To complete these works, the ICON INTERIORS Trade Team worked tirelessly out of hours and on weekends to keep disruption to the staff & neighbours to the minimum possible, and to comply with the building restrictions. The project was staged over multiple ‘batches’ to enable us to move people around like chess pieces without upsetting business as usual. We have some great videos on occupied fitouts here.

Overall, ICON INTERIORS loved working with Jan Lim & the team at MessageXchange! The transformation of the space from when we first met to now is amazing! The space is now stunning both visually & practically. The new workplace will enable the company to grow and expand without the previous restrictions and create heathier, happier lives.

Please contact us if you would like to know more about this project!