LIMINAL SPACES | profiled on World Architecture News
Posted 17 January 2012
Liminal Spaces' fitout for Senator Singh features on the World Architecture News website.
As a member of the Australian Federal Parliament, Senator Lisa Singh’s work environment is more than just a generic office. It is where the community prevails and the views of Australians matter.
The design approach considers the principles at the heart of the Australian Labor Party movement. Inspiration is taken from former Prime Minister Ben Chifley’s 1949 speech that introduced the ‘Light on the Hill’ phrase, being viewed as the crux of Labor’s philosophy.
The architectural response to this philosophy is to create interiors that reflect the client with splashes of red representing the colour of the Senate while references to ‘The Light on the Hill’ infiltrate the office in the way glass is segmented and the laddered joinery climbs. Light is maximised at higher levels, leaving the lower glazed levels obscured providing privacy between functions. The carpet maps a bird’s eye view of the ‘hill’s’ contours. The red pinnacle suggests the point of arrival shared between the Senator’s office and the open work area. This together with other earthy colours generates connectivity, association and representation in the working environment.
The planning creates an open and accessible work environment where rooms with nominated functions can open as extensions to the general work area. The Senator’s office has the flexibility of being part of the open office area or closed off for privacy. The street frontage is welcoming with all security measures implemented carefully so the community feels welcomed rather than intimidated by a fortified reception.
