PetSure is a workplace that pushes the boundaries of both productivity and play. The Bold Collective was appointed to transform the PetSure workplace that sat across levels 9-12 at 465 Victoria Avenue Chatswood within the head office for parent company Hollard Insurance. The brief included an interconnecting stair to create greater connectivity across the business units. This became an opportunity to design a collaborative tiered seating amphitheatre for all staff presentations & informal meetings. PetSure recognised a need for multiple collaborative meeting spaces and identified most meetings did not require isolation which allowed for a number of open informal meeting booths, high benches & brainstorming areas.
There are many playful and bespoke elements to the workplace, including kennel inspired meeting spaces, oversized environmental pet graphics & locker fronts, cat enclosures & a pet lounge area. Key to the design is the integration of environmental graphics within the workplace including the ‘Petimonials’ by pets who benefited from pet insurance. As a multi-disciplinary studio, we were able to integrate these seamlessly into the design and they become a real feature of the new workplace. Pet lounge areas, kennel-inspired meeting spaces and oversized environmental pet graphics combine within the collaborative and open working spaces to bring a great element of fun to the genuinely pet-friendly workplace. It’s a multi-functional and collaborative environment that reflects the company’s ideals and gives employees (and their pets) the opportunity to thrive.
Pets at the workplace
There have been many studies that show the benefits of pets on stress levels and productivity, but ensuring a workplace is genuinely pet-friendly requires some consideration and very specific design choices. In this instance, there was a conscientious acknowledgement of both dog and cat owners and no bias ensured a custom-built ‘designer’ cat enclosure as a feature of the new space (although we can’t tell you excatly how that has worked out when the dogs are on site!). Perhaps this could just be the next big thing in workplace design...
