New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 34/03C | Page 64

Project
Vodafone InnoV8
Location:
Smales Farm, Auckland
Architect:
Warren and Mahoney
TOMORROW CALLING
For the new Auckland headquarters of a leading global telecommunications provider, you would expect
the purpose-designed interiors to be leading-edge – Vodafone InnoV8 at Smales Farm doesn’t disappoint
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InnoV8 has six levels with
over 70 meeting rooms and
can accommodate up to 2000
people on a given day. The
global telecommunications
company fit-out by Warren and
Mahoney responds to Vodafone’s
flexible working technology. The
building-height atrium with giant
curving screen and sculptural
stairs and bridges provides for a
larger-than-life welcome.
Left:Two four-person meeting
rooms sit just inside the entry to
the dramatic Vodafone atrium.
Facing page:Timber was
installed to the underside of
the reworked bridges, bringing
warmth into the large atrium.
Intelligent acoustic design was
integrated into the connecting
bridges, stair and ceiling.
In an age of advanced technology and flexible
work practices that allows people to work anywhere,
the physical workplace has shifted from a passive
place to operate in, to a dynamic and active tool.
The reinvented Vodafone InnoV8 building in
Auckland is at the forefront in this regard – a fully
enabled smart building at the heart of an innovative,
sustainable and interactive precinct designed to
foster business and community growth.
The modern headquarters blends connectivity
and community seamlessly in a vertical campus-like
environment that showcases the diverse, flexible
nature of the business and its 2000-plus staff.
Vodafone’s regional head of property Murray
Dobson says the building is all about the diversity
of its workforce.
“We were looking to reflect diversity in age,
culture and types of work, so that there’s space for
everyone. This was a big part of the brief to Warren
and Mahoney and is why we have several breakout
spaces, large entertainment spaces, a prayer room,
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wellness areas and plenty of meeting spaces.
“We’ve invested in the mobility of our people,
too. True to Vodafone’s global tel-co reputation,
the up-to-the-minute technology prioritised in this
renovation is here to facilitate our flexible working
policies. It’s not tech for tech’s sake,” Dobson says.
“This included equipping the building with
Internet of Things (IoT) sensors – making everyone’s
smartphone their passport to gaining access to the
building and their lockers, along with everything
from booking smart rooms to ordering a coffee.”
The InnoV8 building reflects its name in terms
of design as well as technological advancement.
On entering, staff and guests are greeted with a
giant screen in the ground-floor atrium in a Times
Square-type display, the only one of its kind in the
Southern Hemisphere. This curved design is made
up of 60 OLED flexible screens.
The atrium itself is a state-of-the-art events hall
with a highly flexible configuration. There are two
four-person meeting rooms on the non-secure side