First buildings open at South Eveleigh

The precinct will be home to Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s 10,000 workers who have begun moving into their new workplace this week with the opening of the first building, Axle. The second complete building, Yerrabingin House, has a community centre, gym, childcare and the Australian-first Indigenous rooftop farm.

The opening of the buildings is a significant milestone in the development of the South Eveleigh precinct, which is on track to be complete by 2020 and will be home to 18,000 workers.

The launch event was attended by Mirvac’s CEO & Managing Director, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz; Commonwealth Bank of Australia Chief Executive Officer, Matt Comyn; AMP Capital Global Head of Real Estate, Carmel Hourigan; Sunsuper Head of Private Markets, Michael Weaver; Centuria Property Funds Head of Real Estate and Funds Management, Jason Huljich; and the precinct’s key partners and stakeholders.

Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz said, “We worked closely with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to co-create a state-of-the-art work and lifestyle destination at South Eveleigh that enriches the lives of its employees and the wider community. Pioneering new standards in commercial campus design, South Eveleigh is a place for workers and the people of Sydney to connect culturally, socially and physically. The precinct has generous public shared spaces, community facilities, public artwork, retail, sports courts and oval, skate park and a focus on innovation, housing some of Australia’s leading technological companies.

“Successful precincts provide an environment for collaboration and exchange, imaginatively mixing workspace with public and recreational facilities incorporating a variety of unique experiences to ensure everyone feels welcome. We are developing a world-class destination at South Eveleigh that is unique to Sydney. The level of quality, excellence and fantastic community contribution at the precinct is a testament to the hard work of our team here at Mirvac and our many partners.”

Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Executive General Manager, Group Property and Security, Jennifer Saiz said, “We are proud to co-create Australia’s signature innovation district at South Eveleigh – a place where entrepreneurs, educators, the community and businesses like ours can come together to solve the challenges of the future.

“Being part of the precinct will position the bank to deliver its long-term strategy to be the best in digital. This starts with a culture and workplace that’s centered on innovating for our customers. Our workplaces at South Eveleigh are designed with flexibility, wellbeing, sustainability and connectivity in mind. It’s a place where we’ll bring our people together to motivate and inspire them about the bank’s ambitious plans for the future.

“With each new workplace, we build on what we’ve learned. Our world-class workplaces at South Eveleigh are an evolution of the high standards set at our existing buildings Commonwealth Bank Place and Commonwealth Bank Square. Investing in leading workplaces reflects our ongoing commitment to providing dynamic environments for our people as we build a simpler, better bank”.

AMP Capital’s Global Head of Real Estate, Carmel Hourigan, said South Eveleigh is the second significant development on which we’ve partnered with Mirvac in recent years, the first being EY Centre, 200 George Street.

“We’re proud to have delivered a state-of-the-art workplace with Mirvac and Sunsuper for a significant customer like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. This fully leased, landmark office precinct adds additional high-quality office assets to our investors’ portfolio which will deliver superior investment performance for our clients both in the short and long term.”

The architects for Axle were the award-winning architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT) to deliver best-in-class design excellence, technology, sustainability and placemaking principles.

FJMT Design Director, Richard Francis Jones said, “This advanced workplace project was about making authentic places to exchange ideas, innovate, meet, enjoy and just be. The architecture in concert with the historic Locomotive Workshops defines and embraces the precincts public spaces, connecting to the station and the existing neighbourhood to create an authentic vibrant low-rise city community.

“The new campus building ‘Axle’ is the first to be completed and is an advanced sustainable and collaborative workplace environment conceived like a miniature city, offering variation, vitality and choice in a refined and deeply human architecture.”

Global architecture firm, Woods Bagot, designed the tenancy fit-out of Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s workplace at Axle, providing their employees with the best tools, techniques and spaces for a mindset of innovation, to bring ideas to life.

Woods Bagot Principal and Global Workplace Design Leader, Amanda Stanaway said, “Axle is an agile, next generation work environment that focuses on Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s continued commitment to innovation, training and well-being of their people.

“Axle demonstrates an ongoing evolution of Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s workplace strategy which responds to changing business priorities, reinforcing Commonwealth Bank of Australia as the market leader and one of Australia’s most progressive and dynamic workplaces.”

Once complete South Eveleigh will consist of nine commercial buildings surrounded by shared public spaces with a diverse mix of retailers including a supermarket, hairdresser, gym and al fresco cafes to activate the precinct in the evenings and on the weekends. A range of public artworks by local artists will also enliven the precinct and celebrate the history and heritage of the site. Mirvac engaged Carriageworks to curate the artworks, which will be progressively installed up until 2020.

South Eveleigh is progressing on schedule with construction set to start on the refurbishment of the Locomotive Workshops this month. Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s second workplace building, The Foundry, will be complete in mid-2020.

The Axle building is a 6 Star Green Star building, and has a 5 Star NABERS Energy rating. Yerrabingin House is a 6 Star Green Star building and has an extensive solar system which has allowed it to be a carbon neutral building.

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