Work is no longer a place we go. It s a thing we do anywhere and at anytime. Liveable Office Award 2013: The Entrants.

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1 Work is no longer a place we go. It s a thing we do anywhere and at anytime. We have entered what we term an era of ideas. Flatter hierarchies, changing management styles, smaller, more mobile devices and hyper-connectivity have lead to unprecedented freedom. The primary purpose of the office is shifting from simply housing technology and people to fostering collaboration and enhancing productivity. The Liveable Office Award was developed to acknowledge this shift. Award organiser Samantha Giam, Head of Product and Marketing Management at Herman Miller International, explains. Asia Pacific has great diversity from both cultural and demographic perspectives. It makes this part of the world a hotbed of creativity, and there s so much great work done by designers and clients that we would like to help bring to light. At Herman Miller, we view it as our role to help promote and celebrate great achievements in design. The Liveable Office Award rewards organisations who are investing in workspace design, while inspiring and guiding the next generation of workers and designers to come is the inaugural year of the Liveable Office Award, which is set to become an annual event. Open to businesses from the Asia Pacific region, entries are judged in terms of how their workspace designs help people engage and come together, demonstrate a high level of flexibility and environmental responsibility, and serve as an expression of brand identity. Liveable Office Award 2013: The Entrants. The quantity and quality of this year s submissions was encouraging, and reinforced the relevance of the award s objectives to contemporary workplace design issues. We are delighted with the response to the Liveable Office Awards, said Samantha Giam. It s a really positive indicator for the potential of the competition to grow in the future. The panel of judges in itself a who s who of design leaders from the Asia Pacific region nominated twelve finalists. 1. Ergon Energy, Australia, by BVN Donovan Hill 2. Adidas China, by PDM International 3. Maxus, Australia, by The Bold Collective 4. SAP, Singapore, by HBO+EMTB 5. Cisco, Singapore, by Space Matrix 6. GPT Group, Australia, by Woods Bagot 7. Harley Davidson, Japan, by TRIM Arquitectura- Comunicación and The Design Studio 8. Herald Weekly Times, Australia, by Geyer 9. Serviceworks, Australia, by Linear Design 10. Microsoft, India, by DSP Design Associates 11. Boston Consulting Group, India, by Adrianse Group 12. Boston Consulting Group, Australia, by Carr Design Group

2 Competition Highlights. ERGON Energy, Australia / BVN Donovan Hill BVN Donovan Hill has successfully created a new work environment that, through the power of design, engages disparate business groups, and encourages collaborative work patterns. The design is as diverse as it is exciting, providing a wide range of individual and collaborative work areas, and effortlessly inserting large areas for large gatherings. Hisham Youssef, Director, AIA Shanghai Harley Davidson, Japan / TRIM Arquitectura- Comunicación and The Design Studio I would like to give the design team full credit for the concept and their solutions. The concept focuses on the interaction of Harley Davidson staff with each other based on the company culture. It enables all workers to communicate with each other very effectively and whenever they want. It also helps their clients understand and appreciate the company s corporate philosophy. Toshiyuki Kita, Chairman, Japan Interior Architects/Designers Association

3 Clockwise from top left: Adidas, China, by PDM International, SAP, Singapore, by HBO+EMTB, Maxus, Australia, by The Bold Collective, Herald Weekly Times, Australia, by Geyer, Serviceworks, Australia, by Linear Design

4 Liveable Office Award Winners Out of more than one hundred submissions, Herman Miller Asia Pacific is thrilled to announce the two winners of the inaugural Liveable Office Award Geyer were the proud winners of the SME Business Category for their Herald Weekly Times project and receive a Herman Miller office makeover to the value of USD $5000, while GPT Group convincingly took out the Commercial Business Category, receiving a cash prize of USD $5000 for their groundbreaking Sydney headquarters fitout. Award judge Hisham Youssef, Director of AIA Shanghai commented on Geyer s outstanding submission for the SME category. Geyer created a new vision that challenges the paradigm of what a news company workplace should be, by demonstrating that today s workplace needs to catch up with new media and alternative ways to be productive. The design is truly a refreshing take on alternative workplace design. On behalf of Geyer, Project Leader Rebecca Daff and Design Leader Timothy Giles said, We are very proud to win the Herman Miller Liveable Office Award for HWT as we believe in the power design has in making a difference to the people and communities around us. Geyer collaborated with fifteen rising leaders from the HWT business to identify how the company as a whole could be better connected, more collaborative and offer a creative workplace without needing to apply a full workplace change across the company. HWT Our Space on 3 has been embraced by all levels of the business as a place outside the normal working environment that encourages creative and innovative thinking in a technology rich, flexible and social space

5 GPT s workspace, which spans three floors in Sydney s iconic Harry Seidler-designed MLC Centre, is a benchmark in design. Award judge Raj Nandan, Managing Director of Indesign Group, commented, The project features a finely nuanced interior that exhibits control, consideration and clear insight into the workings of the company. It avoids sweeping solutions and is a relevant model for the offices of today and as well as the future. In receiving the award, Lisa Kent, Work Environment Manager for GPT, said, The GPT Group is pleased to accept the Herman Miller Asia Pacific Liveable Office Award for our workplace at MLC Centre. We are very proud of the work environment we have created for staff, which transforms the way we work and supports our culture and values. Our employees have access to cutting edge facilities and technologies, which help them perform their best work by promoting innovation, collaboration and workplace flexibility. About Herman Miller. Herman Miller s inspiring designs, inventive technologies and strategic services help people do great things and organisations to perform at their best. Its award-winning products generated more than $1.7billion in revenue in fiscal A past recipient of the Smithsonian Institution s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, innovative business practices and a commitment to social responsibility have helped establish Herman Miller as a recognised global company. In 2012, Herman Miller again received the Human Rights Campaign Foundation s top rating in its annual Corporate Equality Index and was named among the 50 Best U.S Manufactures by Industry Week. Herman Miller is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR