Visiting DLA Piper’s new staff hub at TWO FORTY
BrewHub recently sat down with long-time client, law firm DLA Piper at their brand new office in the premium office tower known as TWO FORTY in the Perth CBD. We had a tour of the modern, warm and inviting space and chatted about the people-centred, sophisticated workplace experience they were determined to achieve for their valued clients and staff.
Setting high expectations for a new fit-out
BrewHub has worked alongside DLA Piper since 2014 with both businesses observing dramatic changes to workplace culture. In particular, there is a new awareness of what is an optimum work space for employees and its impact upon productivity and relationships with clients and customers.
DLA Piper’s new space at TWO FORTY turns the traditional approach to legal offices – employees siloed away from each other in separate offices – on its head. The new design includes an open-plan desk layout for everyone and a generous break-out staff hub, complemented by dedicated quiet meeting rooms, two smaller tea and water ‘refresh’ stations and personal lockers for staff.
We want clients visiting the office to have a positive experience – one which resonates with their own work-place values, standards and innovation. We want them to get a sense of a collaborative office, which genuinely values its staff and their well-being.
Early in the design process DLA Piper expressed a desire to create a space that would include opportunities for employees to positively interact with their physical work environment and with each other. DLA Piper reached out to BrewHub and said ‘what’s new at BrewHub – what do you have that would meet the challenge of this new space we are creating?
Paul Savy from BrewHub introduced DLA Piper to the TopBrewer coffee tap. The minimalist tap and iPad touch controls on the top of the counter, with the functional hardware hidden underneath, held instant appeal. Previously, it was a challenge to keep the office kitchens pristine, constantly wiping up spills and cleaning neglected milk frothing wands. DLA Piper’s kitchens had become uninviting and staff started to buy takeaway coffees instead.
For TWO FORTY, DLA Piper visualised a beautiful, modern and pristine kitchen space that staff would want to visit and enjoy together – the TopBrewer technology and design perfectly fits that vision.
The architects and builders had not come across the TopBrewer before, so installation was a learning curve for them – hiding the hardware discretely under the stone counter, but designed in a way that maintains easy access to gas bottles and other equipment. BrewHub knows the TopBrewer inside out and the scope of access and maintenance required, so we were happy to assist with this process.
Straight from the horse’s mouth!
We had a complete tour of DLA Piper’s new space and hub and what we observed was an extremely inviting and accessible area for employees to sit and commune together, whether starting the day over breakfast or taking a well-earned break during a busy schedule.
The new space was finally commissioned during the pandemic lockdown in Perth so staff were returning to a completely new building and workplace and were especially excited about the staff centred hub. A staggered return meant the new kitchen – now informally christened ‘the Café’ was not overwhelmed by staff learning to use the TopBrewer tap and perfecting their coffee preferences.
DLA Piper report that staff are much more engaged with each other around the Cafe and the hub. The TopBrewer tap is a focal point, staff are connecting with each other while they are making their coffee, sharing their choices. They keep saying ‘I wish I had one of these machines at home’ and ‘it is saving me a fortune’.
We heard first hand from a couple of DLA Piper staff members during our visit who told us how easy they find TopBrewer to use. They enthused over the quality of the coffee, with one of them telling us she hadn’t bought an ‘outside’ coffee since they had moved into the new office. Another staff member says she only has one coffee a day and waits to use the TopBrewer, rather than using her pod machine at home.
I look forward to it, it’s all part of my routine to have my coffee when I get into the office.
We also watched one staff member adding the hot water to her soup, because the water temperature is very high, close to 92 degrees, which is also perfect for the tea drinkers.
Quenching DLA Piper’s thirst!
The complete game-changers for DLA Piper at TWO FORTY are the new Scanomat TopWater taps. There has always been a huge demand for water and DLA Piper previously provided individual plastic bottles for staff and individual and larger glass bottles of sparkling water for visitors. Even where these were opened and barely used, they had to be thrown away, creating unnecessary and unsustainable waste and cost.
DLA Piper have installed a TopWater tap in the hub alongside the TopBrewer coffee tap and another one in their cafe area which also services their clients and guests. The TopWater unit dispenses fresh, chilled, still and sparkling water and DLA Piper reports after only three months in the new office, these taps are hugely popular with staff who really appreciate the additional luxury of sparkling water.
DLA Piper also no longer requires endless bottles for clients, using the taps to fill up special large glass carafes for meeting rooms and smaller individual glass carafes for single use. Their clients also really appreciate this change – it’s just as important for them to reduce the cycle of waste with water and bottles – as it is for DLA Piper.
DLA Piper in Australia is a full service business law firm providing clients with an extensive breadth and depth of service across four capital cities nationally.
As trusted legal advisors, we take great pride in our reputation as a firm that is friendly and easy to do business with. It is our priority to spend time with our clients, getting to know them so that we can understand their businesses and provide strategic and innovative legal solutions that are practical and commercially focused.