ellivo (Places for Work, Connection & Wellbeing)

Developed in close collaboration with Mirvac, the Waterfront Sales Gallery was conceived as more than a traditional display suite. Designed as a prefabricated sales environment, the project brought together multiple customer experiences and a fully realised apartment fitout to create an immersive journey through the future Waterfront precinct. Inspired by Mirvac’s Waterfront development at Newstead, the gallery translated the project’s premium residential offering into a tangible experience for prospective residents.

Every aspect of the design was centred around storytelling. Visitors were guided through a carefully curated sequence of spaces, each revealing a different layer of the Waterfront vision. From project discovery and precinct exploration through to a complete apartment experience, the sales gallery was designed to help visitors imagine themselves living within the future community.

The architectural language drew directly from the Waterfront buildings themselves. Flowing curved forms and softly articulated spaces reflected the undulating façades that define Quay, Isle and the broader development. These gestures not only referenced the architecture but also shaped the visitor journey, creating moments of anticipation, discovery and connection.

Created in partnership with Traders In Purple, the Tydal Sales Gallery was designed to capture the essence of a landmark residential address and bring its coastal lifestyle story to life. Positioned to reflect the project’s elevated presence on the Woody Point Peninsula, the space introduces visitors to a vision of luxury living shaped by water, light and connection to place.

The sales experience was inspired by the same architectural language that defines Tydal itself. Drawing from the organically sculpted forms of the surrounding bays, the interior incorporates soft curves, refined detailing and a carefully layered material palette that creates a sense of warmth, elegance and authenticity.

A collection of soft tones and natural materials establishes a calm and welcoming atmosphere throughout. Rather than relying on grandeur, the design embraces a quiet confidence, allowing the story of the development, its setting and its lifestyle offering to take centre stage.

Rather than treating the sales display as a standalone destination, we approached the project as a layered sequence of experiences. Each space was designed to build upon the last, creating a natural progression from welcome, to storytelling, to engagement.

A soft and calming material palette, paired with a meticulous attention to detail, helps create a sense of flow throughout the environment. Carefully considered transitions, refined finishes and integrated design elements ensure every moment feels effortless and connected.

At the heart of the project sits the Sierra Entry Gallery, designed with longevity and adaptability in mind. A timeless layout and restrained palette provide a lasting foundation, allowing the back-of-house sales experience to evolve and be refreshed as new developments are brought to market.

Every detail was thoughtfully crafted, from stone inlays that subtly define zones and experiences, to integrated signage and display opportunities woven throughout the space. The result is a highly considered environment that balances permanence and flexibility, creating a memorable destination that can continue to evolve with the Sierra story.

Within the stunning North Sydney Vic X development, our second flagship Fitout for Ventia delivers an experience for all reflective of the Vic X context. Set within a Green Star accredited building and opening to expansive views toward the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the workspace balances sustainability, functionality and a strong sense of place across the two floors.

Visitors, staff and teams are considered at every turn, with a variety of spaces supporting different ways of working, alongside moments of playfulness within the workspace. There are spaces for gathering, collaboration, briefing, celebration, concentration and for quiet reflection within. Comfort for users was paramount, with acoustic design, amenity, and visual connection of great importance.

The vision for this subtropical commercial development is to create a distinctive and confident building form that responds to its local context while contributing positively to the evolving urban character of Upper Mount Gravatt. The architectural expression is anchored by a finely detailed, sculptural podium that grounds the building at street level and establishes a strong sense of place.
Inspired by the subtropical climate, the design prioritises shade, daylight, ventilation and landscape integration to create comfortable and engaging environments for occupants and visitors alike. The upper levels are articulated to soften the building’s scale, while the podium forms a robust and human-scaled interface with the public realm.

At street level, activated retail tenancies and landscaped spaces address both frontages, fostering pedestrian engagement and encouraging activity throughout the day. These spaces are carefully curated to enhance the streetscape and contribute to a vibrant, walkable environment. The rhythmic façade responds to the surrounding context through modulation, texture and planting, creating a dynamic architectural presence that shifts with light and movement.

Ventias West Sydney is an attractive new home nestled in the greenery of the Western Sydney University Architecture and surrounding community.

Ventia West Sydney raises the bar to provide a new level of comfort and wellbeing for the West Sydney staff. Designed to attract staff and encourage people to come to the workplace their space is connected, thoughtful and inspiring. Their home includes comfortable lounge spaces, quiet work areas, a gym, games area, connecting stairs and extensive entertaining and collaboration areas.

Taking Ventia on the sustainability design journey has been really rewarding and interesting as we witness there awareness about their Carbon footprint awaken. Designed to be minimal without using materials where not necessary, Ventia were keen to see the raw and industrial fabrics wash through their fitout.

Their new space is also designed for inclusion and accessibility of staff and visitors. User groups of different abilities and faiths have been accommodated. The barriers between staff and visitors have been broken down with only recyclable mesh separating zones and also allowing for efficiency when air conditioning.

Furnishings have been sourced locally where possible and for reuse. All materials have been reviewed for sustainability and life cycle to minimise the carbon footprint of the fitout.

Our task to provide equitable access and better facilities for members and guests is a long and winding road. Fundamentally the original 80’s Architecture stands strong and creating new links through the building, and around the building, is creating some great outcomes.
The refurbishment hinges on the greenspace of the greens and the extensive trees and heritage of these, which surround the club.

The sport itself drives us to integrate the activity into the building, blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor. The renovation includes extensive new changerooms for male, female, unisex and PWD, new foyer, lift, business lounge and admin spaces. A new extension includes golf retail and expands the golf operations offerings.

Photography by Brock Beazley

Working closely with Daisho, the brief called for a highly polished and refined experience.

The Retail Precinct on the ground and podium levels of 180 Brisbane and 192 Central caters for both local staff and commuters passing through from Brisbane’s Central Station to the CBD.

With a wide variety of spaces for indoor and outdoor meetings, lunches or after-work gatherings, the brief called for a series of highly polished and curated experiences.

With growing demands for their psychiatric, psychologic and other allied health treatments, it was time for Family Nurture to expand into a new space supported by their new branding.

Dr Amin and his team were very keen to provide a comfortable space for everyone that is calm and welcoming. Their touches of monkeys and books add to the warmth and homely nature of this space.

The palette is refined to reinforce the calm, as are the textures and patterns. Everyone has been thought about here from the kids who want to draw, to those who need their own space away form others, to the staff looking to run training or share a consult room.

Photography by Arrow Media Collective

Working alongside the fitout contractor Apollo, and Q Coals leadership team, we set out to deliver a fresh environment for the growing QCoal team, over two floors. Drawing inspiration from the raw materials of mining, the palette was curated to include earthy and masculine tones to result in a space that is warm and inviting for both visitors and staff. Culturally the new space welcomes visitors from many nations, and encourages the Q Coal team to meet and collaborate every day. The empahsis was on providing suitable work areas which draw staff together.

The design was shaped by the client’s values and needs with a lot of importance on the space reflecting the permanence of the Queensland company. Central to the space planning was to include a large town hall where the staff can gather for team meetings and events. The outcome is uniquely Q Coal that will carry the client into the next decade.

Photography by Cieran Murphy

The process of planning and moving to our new home at 293 Queen Street, in the heritage-listed Custom Credit House, gave us a chance to pause, reflect and explore what was important to all the people who use our spaces – clients, visitors, staff members and friends alike.

In true Ellivo spirit, we knew that our space needed to have plenty of character and needed to support various activities from focused work to small and large meetings, as well as casual gatherings and more formal celebrations. The building itself informed the rhythm of the layout – breaking up different spaces, while still allowing them to be connected.

Moving to a new space allowed us to consider the changing office environment – we realised a need to create a flexible space which allows multiple people to work in different modes, and within separate areas. We identified the needs of the various users of our studio and tailored spaces to suit each of these. We created quieter meeting spaces away from work zones to allow for individual and small-group work, quiet phone seats, scrum areas for larger project team meetings and a long library and layout space along the central circulation spine – to inspire and foster team interaction. We also made sure that industry gatherings could be supported through the latest technology and design.

The Garden Bar is a great gathering space for us, as we embrace coming together again with each other and our community. We are excited to share our studio and watch as it grows over the coming years.

In years gone by families would take an outing to the airport in their Sunday best to see off a traveller, visit the viewing platform and see the swans swimming on the ponds at the airport. The viewing deck will now be home to Aspire Perth and offer their travellers an extension of their Western Australian experience.

The lounge focuses on the views to the tarmac with a variety of work and leisure spaces. Ambience and wellness flows through from the furnishings to the local food & beverage offerings. Indigenous artwork, local photography and a palette inspired by the landscape flows through the spaces that cater for all types of travellers.

Connectivity and flexibility is considered at all points throughout the lounge with the ultimate focus on ensuring the lounge is robust and adaptable to continue the Aspire reputation.

The Quarter at Wodonga integrates a mix of commercial, retail, dining and exclusive residential living units.
A place to work, the Quarter offers light-filled contemporary office spaces in a high visibility, premium location right in the heart of town.
As place to live, life at the Quarter embraces spacious indoor and outdoor living that brings people together combined with a range of uses and facilities that takes advantage of the location and the broader community.

Sitting calmly within the bustling and diverse West Village, the new home for the professionals that are Skin Partners is a true reflection on their approach to their profession. The brief was not a typical allied health brief and started with some beautiful imagery of modern homes. With the client’s keen eye for aesthetics, the fitout was designed around the journey of the patients and of the professionals that use the spaces and brings together the sense of calm and the practicality of the spaces.

The tenancy is bathed in natural light by day and looks through an interesting façade and beyond to gardens and Boundary Street. With limited space and evergrowing needs balancing aesthetics and space, planning became a very detailed exercise with every millimetre utilised. We also carefully considered the privacy of patients balanced with sheer curtains to allow the light and connection to the gardens to shine.

Photography by Cieran Murphy

Situated in Everton Park, GO2 Health brings together Physiotherapists, Exercise Physiologists, Acupuncturists, Psychologists, GPs, Pathologists and other specialists - all under one roof. The team’s enthusiasm for the high level of care on offer is evident in all that they do; so we made sure that their new space would reflect and enable this further. We worked very closely with the client in the early stages of space planning to ensure the space flowed properly for both staff and patients. The space includes calm lounge spaces and ‘hydrate stations’ that allow patients to relax and chat before their appointments.

Visitors also have access to a flexible community room which enables various educational and support activities. Staff are also not forgotten in the new spaces - with a generous break-out room that can be combined with the community room if a larger space is needed. The colour and material palette reflects a homely, fresh feel, so that spaces are warm and inviting to all; and reflect GO2 Health’s approach to wellness.

Photography by Katherine O'Malley

Relocating within the same building to one-and-a-half floors immediately presented the challenge of delivering something quite unlike what they had before. With a focus on user comfort and wellness, the new space has an abundance of greenery and alternative work and meeting spaces.

Connection between teams was also a change for the users; with many moving to an open plan for the first time. This increased visibility and collaboration within the office. With a mixture of offices and open plan spaces, we introduced private phone booths, lounges and collaboration spaces which provides more choice to the users. Staff have an abundance of space and separation between teams where needed thanks to careful planning early on in the design.

The café is the central meeting spot of the office – allowing all staff to come together in one lunch area to share, collaborate and contribute to the office culture. The outcome has created a new union between staff, and assisted in building on their identity while reinforcing their professional nature.

Photography by Katherine O'Malley

One of the most challenging briefs is to design for an ever-changing workforce, which will peak and decline in varying stages over the term of the lease. That was exactly what ARTC requested as Inland Rail are delivering thirteen rail projects across Australia over the next seven years. It was very rewarding to work with them and watch their staff move from a cramped and unworkable space to a custom-designed, 95% agile environment with a variety of flexible working environments.

Working within a Green star building, and with high servicing and density requirements, the layout needed to support collaborative, agile working. This was achieved by designing various different types of workspaces such as phone booths, quiet rooms and casual chat areas – as well as more conventional office desk areas including standing areas.

We were involved heavily with the team managers during the design phase, which has helped to enable a successful transition to the new space, and has encouraged new connections to form naturally within teams since the project’s completion. The company values are deeply embedded within the space and their sense of community informed the layout and the new way of working. The palettes throughout reference the many remote communities, the earth that they touch and the robust materials of rail within a Queensland context.

Photography by Mindi Cooke Photography

The Ronald McDonald House charity provides a home away from home for seriously ill children and their families. In South Brisbane they have built a 10-storey complex adjacent the Mater Children’s Hospital, which is slowly being fitted out floor by floor as they get funding. Ellivo was commissioned to design the fitout for Level 9, which was destined to become a home for the families that need to stay longer.

The project consists of nine accommodation rooms – some with interconnecting doors to house larger families – as well as communal kitchen facilities and a dining area, a large fenced play area, and a private function room which can be booked for family functions.

The project received funding from various charities and fundraising efforts – among them, the annual Chain Reaction Challenge Foundation bike ride contributed a large amount. Two of the riders and fundraisers for this were Ellivians Mason and Jen, who rode 1000 km from Sydney to Brisbane in 2017.

Photographed by Mindi Cooke

The building’s form seeks to be bold, minimalistic and timeless – designed to be efficient for both buildability and capacity.

Natural light and landscape is incorporated without comprising floor yield, to ensure a sense of calmness and tranquillity, supportive of the building’s Medical purpose. The building’s open corner addresses the main entry, with well-shaded balconies wrapping the upper floor, allowing for a private retreat for workers without disconnection from the ground plane. Double height atriums open both to sky and planters below seeking to breathe life into the building – trees are able to grow through atrium voids which are decorated with seating plinths at ground level.

The chosen material palette draws inspiration from the surrounding industrial context. It plays with a juxtaposition of textures through raw materials such as brick, concrete, steel and plywood.

We owe the success of the project to the strong support of our open-minded client and supportive builder, who worked with us seamlessly throughout the project to ensure the quality and vision of the project was upheld.

Photography by Scott Burrows

Our brief was therefore twofold, create a sleek commercial podium, and a multi-residential upper that responds to the transitionary nature of the site.

We drew upon early 20th century modernism as inspiration for the simple yet bold forms of the façade. Bands of concrete frame the showroom, which is softened by a double height curved glass façade that is grounded by a garden. The curved glass wall draws residents & visitors into the entry, giving back space and volume to the street and giving a sense of openness to the street.

A simple material pallet of concrete, glass, steel, metal cladding & vegetation create a balance between a commercial aesthetic podium and a human scale level of detail for the residential component above.

We used subtropical design fundamentals including vegetation, flow through ventilation, natural light & solar control to make sure we created a high-quality living environment for the residents & commercial tenants. This includes a communal recreation space on the roof with a pool and steam room to offer a meeting place for residents.

Photography by Scott Burrows

Being designers we were excited by the prospect of testing our approach to the end user by starting with our staff and clients and personifying their needs and mapping out their possible journey with us.  We soon realised that our clients and staff were all very different and this led us to create spaces that could adapt.

We created private spaces where meetings can be confidential, small meeting spaces and public spaces where people can connect. We wrapped all of these in a series of movable curtains that change the privacy and use of the spaces. We can cocoon spaces and make them private, we can adjust lighting and become more of an entertaining space. The uses are varied and practical to take us through the next five or ten years that we may be here.

CLIENT | ELLIVO
STATUS | COMPLETE (2018)
SCALE | 350SQM
PHOTOGRAPHY | MINDI COOKE PHOTOGRAPHER

Their desire to demonstrate integrity and openness is embedded within their new home. From the moment you step inside the front door the client area is open and has views to Newstead beyond and the newly refurbished historical Gasometer. The combination of smoky glass, polished concrete, concrete, plywood and leather provides comfort and texture in the detailing and a most warm welcome.

Aerocare have a proud history in Australia and New Zealand as a leading independent ground handling company. They were keen for their surroundings to demonstrate to others what they do and their enthusiasm. It was critical to us to include their sense of fun and let this fitout become part of the brand. Together we took a creative approach to work spaces in conjunction with them and the developer (landlord).

Harnessing the concrete and blockwork surrounds, the natural light and their strong aeronautical links, this inspired the selections, colours and elements within. Passion and energy was delivered through installations, graffiti mural and the ‘escape’slide which connects the two levels and defines in the built form who they are.