Office Envy

I always like getting my cool hunter newsletter delivered to my inbox, and last week one particular article caught my attention. It was about ANZ’s Learning and Breakout Centre in Melbourne.

The centre is designed, as the name suggests, for breakout for sessions that will enhance creativity and innovation away from ANZs’ staff normal office environment. The centre is not an isolated idea to breed creativity and innovation at ANZ. Since new management took over the bank in 2000, they’ve been implementing a Cultural Transformation Program, called Breakout. The program has seen 26,000 of their staff undertake self development workshop since its inception.

The Breakout program has been about staying competitive by being a very different bank that focuses on people, its culture and environment…which has now lead to this very cool breakout centre. Apart from the entry way, there is no ANZ branding on the inside, and every day they’ve estimated 220 will use the space for meetings, workshops, events and training. I love the idea that people that you expect to be working in stale office environments, like a bank, get to enjoy the spoils of great innovation in design that will help them with creativity. Who would of thought a bank would be doing this!

Cool Hunter regularly update great office spaces that they’ve found from around the globe if you want to see more: http://www.thecoolhunter.com.au/offices/
And Trudi recommended this site to take a peak at the brainstorming rooms at Naked in Sydney: http://www.theideasfinder.com.au/