Woods Bagot has completed two groundbreaking office buildings for the National Australia Bank (NAB) in Sydney, creating what the bank calls its "Sydney campus." The NAB 3 Parramatta Square and NAB 2 Carrington Street offices, completed in 2022, represent a bold transformation of the bank's workplace experience, accommodating over 6,000 desks across two locations situated 24 kilometers apart.
The project, known as "A Tale of Two NABs," features a distinctive red staircase that symbolically connects these fraternal twin workplace tenancies. Located in Parramatta, Australia, these office buildings provide NAB with strategic positioning in locations highly connected to both its established and emerging customer base, offering a rare opportunity to revolutionize modern banking workspace design.
The architectural design was led by a comprehensive team of directors including Lisa James, Adriana Pelle, Nik Karalis, Amanda Stanaway, Domenic Alvaro, Ian Lomas, Petra Bonamy, Mazdak Goudarzi, Chris Savva, John Norman, Alissandra Johnston, Tershia Habbitts, Leonie Weiss, Holly Whyatt, Audrey Marquant, Julia Solomon, Chris Field, and John Caldwell. The project was captured through photography by Nicole England and Trevor Mein, showcasing the sophisticated interior and exterior design elements.
The buildings incorporate an extensive range of premium materials and furnishings from leading manufacturers including UniFor, Wilkhahn, Fisher & Paykel, Interface, Academy Tiles, Armstrong, Artek, Artifort, Aspect Furniture, Bosch, Breville, Caesarstone, Caon Studio, Caroma, Clark, Cult, District, Dorma, Dowel Jones, and Dulux. Additional high-end specifications include products from Earp Brothers, Euroluce, FLOS, Flowcrete, Forbo, Formica, Foscarini, HAY, Harvey Norman Commercial, Haworth, Helen Kontouris, Heradesign, Herman Miller, Howe, Hub Furniture, INCLASS, InStyle, Index and co, Jardan, Kezu, Koda Lighting, Koskela, La Cividina, Laminex, Living Edge, Moroso, Muuto, Nomi Schiavello, One Third, Ownworld, Panasonic, Polytec, Simon James Design, Space Furniture, Stylecraft, Tait, Tarkett, Tate, Top Akoustik, VitrA, Walter Knoll, Westinghouse, and Zenith.
The project involved collaboration with specialized consultants including 360 Degrees for landscape design, NDYLIGHT and NDY Light for lighting design, Savills Project Management as project managers, and BUILT as the primary builder. The structural engineering was handled by BGE, with services engineering by NDY, acoustic engineering by Stantec, environmental sustainable design (ESD) by NDY, and transportation engineering by Arup. WT Partnership served as the quantity surveyor for the comprehensive development.
These innovative office spaces represent a significant advancement in contemporary workplace design for the financial services sector, demonstrating how large-scale corporate environments can be reimagined to better serve both employees and clients. The project showcases Woods Bagot's expertise in creating functional yet aesthetically striking commercial architecture that meets the evolving needs of modern banking operations while maintaining the highest standards of design excellence and sustainability.
