Over the years, Crone has added some well-known building designs to Sydney’s CBD, including urban icons such as Centrepoint Tower and World Square.

So, it makes perfect sense that when it came to moving from its home of 25 years into a somewhat more functional space, Crone took a historical step and relocated its Sydney headquarters back to World Square - a building that it designed back in 2008.

This move - from one side of Sydney's CBD to the other, has had a range of ergonomic benefits, including providing more space by relocating into a light-filled contemporary New York-style loft office, with views across Sydney’s ever-changing CBD.

According to Crone principal and design director, Sandra Furtado, this is all part of a larger plan for the firm.

“Over the last three years our leadership group has been restructured to allow greater clarity and transparency across the organisation; we re-branded and we are diversifying the scale and type of work we take on," says Furtado.

“Moving our Sydney headquarters aligned with our goal to enable better collaboration and communication between staff by accommodating the entire team on one floor,” she says.

In what could be termed as a creative re-use for the new office, Crone originally designed the space to accommodate an indoor lap pool and fitness centre; an area that eventually gave way to a commercial mailroom and storage centre, now transformed into a contemporary open-plan office that is flooded with natural light and with an outlook over the CBD. 

“We have re-imagined a poor working environment into a highly desirable open plan space,” says Furtado.

“The daylight in our office and the sense of space is unique.  We sit above podium height on George Street with unique views framed by seven-metre high glazing.  It can get a little warm at times, but in general it is a very comfortable environment,” says Crone principal & design director, Niall Durney.

“The [new] space is surprisingly calm and quite minimal in its fit out, but retains a large amount of character,” he says.

Another key driver in the firm’s ongoing evolution, notes Durney, is its commitment to gender equality across the practice, as well as within the wider architectural profession.

This, he says, has resulted in an equal gender split within the Crone team, as well as an influx of international design talent with employees drawn from all around the world.

“This diversity brings a wealth of global architectural intel to Crone, which is evidenced through our building designs. Diversity and collaboration in our practice has been one of our strengths in recent years and we want to continue to nurture this,” says Durney.

““As well as operational aspects of the practice, having a gender-equal office aids better design outcomes, encourages more considered thought processes, enables smoother problem-solving and, importantly, has facilitated a more family-supportive workplace,” he says.