Made to Measure

Chapman Tripp is one of New Zealand’s largest and most successful law firm, home to 450 of the sharpest and most insightful minds in the market.

The Auckland workplace houses 280 people including 35 partners. In 2015, W+M engaged with Chapman Tripp on their future property strategy, which eventuated in CT taking three floors in the highly anticipated Commercial Bay development.

Seizing upon the opportunity, Chapman Tripp used the relocation to address their workplace approach including future workstyles, technology platforms and client relationship spaces. The decision was made to move toward an agile legal environment, with no offices and a blend of quiet spaces, collaborative spaces and individual work settings to support their work.

The workspaces are on L33, L34 and L35, split by the client meeting space and anchor cafe floor also on L34. In terms of workstyle, the partners adopted a new booth in lieu of offices, placed at the perimeter of the floorplate, with capacity to share with legal employees . This setup offers privacy for concentration at the work point.

All the newly designated meeting rooms are technology enabled and were built using a bespoke specified partition system - as acoustically robust as can be achieved. The rooms are located in ‘villages’ of 40 persons and enable agility for drop in meetings using WiFi (airplay).

The L34 client space focussed on ensuring that the employee experience was equal to that of the client. Placing the central cafe to the northern facade with endless views of the Auckland harbour was a key move, acting as a meet/eat and work space, with adjacent meeting facilities to host. The informality of this space enables different engagements with clients. The meeting space is where Chapman Tripp chose to introduce a hotel-style introduction to their services, with a bespoke designed reception area in a soft arrangement at the heart of a generous space, anchored by an aged brass wall and bespoke made Terrazzo.

“Entrancing, beguiling, fascinating, a place you’d want to spend more time. Gives a whole new meaning to going into the office.” - Anne Gibson, Reporter, NZ Herald