THORN GROUP HEAD OFFICE WAREHOUSE

The office and warehouse at 79 Proprietary Street stands apart from the traditional industrial developments situated along the Bulimba Creek Bikeway. Designed and constructed in collaboration with the Thorn Group, the builder and a consortium of consultants, the modern development is representative of each party’s passion and involvement throughout the design and build process. Representing its industrial roots, the contemporary storage shed is bookended by architectural forms and materiality evocative of New York’s 19th-century warehouse buildings. The leaning second-floor balcony of the rear office pulls you deeper into the site, revealing exposed detailed structures and fixings as features of the exterior. The lobby of the rear office is entered via a Boeing 747 airplane cowl sunken into the floor. There is a meeting room and kitchen on the mid-level and private office upstairs, with framed views of the surrounding gum trees. The structure is expressed throughout, and a high level of craftsmanship is showcased in the purpose-built internal elements, such as the folded steel stairs, exposed services, polished concrete floors and raw concrete walls. The sheer depth of the beams supporting the private office is a feat of engineering.