One Design Office channels Kaleida team’s shared vision in striking workspace design

For the new office of multi-disciplinary Melbourne firm Kaleida, One Design Office took inspiration from the Kaleida team’s shared vision to design the workspace.

Kaleida, which takes its name from the kaleidoscope, was started by two founders with interests in the built environment and finance. While the property development arm is focused on food, retail and hospitality, the company recently ventured into private equity and digital currencies.

Drawn from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experience, the Kaleida team is unified by a shared vision to deliver future-focused projects. In response to the Kaleida brief to create a functional space for what can seem like multiple businesses operating beneath one roof, the ODO team channelled this team vision into the design of the architecturally stunning workplace located in the Cox Architecture-designed office tower, Goldfields House in South Yarra.

ODO took inspiration from the business’s eponymous brand to encourage the segmented pursuit of business objectives without the silo-ing of great ideas.

“Kaleida is truly an apt name for this client, as it really speaks to the multifaceted outcomes achieved by this team through a single stream of input, like the splitting of light into a series of abstractions. We wanted to communicate this ethos and the business’ well-considered brand throughout the design process,” ODO founding director Samson Tiew says.

“A lot of the elements within the brand are about dispersing and deconstructing a sense of direction or clear reading of something, and this comes through in the architecture.”

The design response includes tessellated surfaces, and playful use of light at entry portals to create a sense of multi-directional passageways. Reverberated steel cladding on the ceiling, reminiscent of soundwaves moving through water, is positioned in the main walkways to shape the wayfinding experience and celebrate the multidirectional approach of the business. Fluted glass in square-faceted shapes, emblematic to the Kaleida brand, obscure meeting room windows and abstract the light.

Looking to provide a space that was not only aesthetically aligned to the business, but also conducive to supporting business outcomes, ODO spent time within the team to properly understand how the space could support the organisational structure of the business and ensure it was appropriately segmented for each department.

“It’s a tight site but we introduced a lot of features to support management requirements, providing substantial public breakout spaces for staff to convene and a general lounge sandwiched between work zones for ease of access. Raised steps create opportunities for town hall seating,” Tiew adds.

Instead of a predictable kaleidoscopic colour palette, ODO chose subdued and warm hues of gold and grey, which were better aligned with Kaleida’s upmarket offerings.

Kaleida co-founder and company director Daoren Lai says the provision of multi-use spaces was essential to meeting the needs of Kaleida’s nimble team.

“As a business, we pride ourselves on the flexibility and agility needed to be at the forefront of the market. Having a workplace that fosters seamless collaboration, but also the development of specialist expertise among our teams required a balance of open plan and partitioned spaces, something ODO has delivered for us in a highly stylised and brand-aligned way,” Lai notes.

Construction of the Kaleida workplace was completed in January 2023.