Thomas Building

+ Level 1, 46 Hasler Road, Osborne Park
+ $90,000
+ 120m2
+ 2012
+ Concept Design, Design Development + Construction Documentation 

Thomas Building is a long established building company working predominately in the Pilbara and Kimberley Regions of Western Australia.

Their offices, located in Osborne Park, over several years had become cramped and dark due to an increased number of staff and associated storage requirements. High level bookcases blocked natural light from the few windows within the tenancy, and high workstation partitions further added to the problem.

Company directors Alan Thomas and Greg Cran decided that it was time to refurbish their office to reflect the success of their many regional projects. 

The key to this project was the programme of works; as in many commercial applications, the office could not be closed for a long period of time without significant cost to the company. The solution was for the contractor to undergo 6 weeks of preliminary work prefabricating all joinery units, ordering workstations, loose furniture, carpet and all other necessary materials. This allowed them to arrive on site late on a Thursday afternoon, work all day Friday and Saturday before installing the workstations and doing a final detail clean allowing Thomas Building to be up and running again on Monday morning.

To allow this programme to work, we designed the space to be entirely open plan; the tea-prep area is the only area separated from the general workspace. This was executed using tall lockable storage units as an alternative to building and finishing a time consuming partition wall.

Wall hung storage shelving and a combination of low level tambour door units beside the workstations and high level units to the perimeter provides adequate storage for team use whilst large layout areas between the workstations provide space below for personal and staff specific filing. This storage solution allows natural light to penetrate deep into the tenancy, which was not possible previously.

Symbolic of the company’s regional work, gold fabric on the workstation partitions and a deep rust colored safety vinyl in the tea-prep area refer to the regions mineral deposits and the colours within the carpet and the workstation tops are indicative of the unique Boab tree and famous rock formations. A feature pinboard completes this modern interpretation of the beauty of the Pilbara and Kimberley.