Entry to the latest offering in Generator’s portfolio of co-working spaces feels somewhat like a Maxwell Smart moment: walking purposefully into the Espresso Workshop in Britomart Place and then pausing inconspicuously, stage left, as a discreet lift makes its way to you.

Already, thanks to the grind of the coffee beans and the bustling café atmosphere, you feel a sense of community and caffeine culture – precisely the vibe that awaits you on the 10th floor above.

Generator Britomart Place was transformed in just seven months from the corporate and highly cellular workspace of previous tenant Westpac to an agile, flexible environment designed to house a diverse range of ‘residents’ and external customers.

The new space, Generator’s fourth in Auckland, represents the natural evolution of the brand into a unique, premium offering and acts as a logical next step for those ready to make the transition from any one of the other sites.

While still maintaining a cultural connection to Stanbeth House, the spiritual and slightly grungy home of the original Generator, Britomart Place is made up of three contiguous floors of sophisticated, understated elegance.

In the arrival area, a wall of digital display screens acts as a piece of living artwork, continuously posting breathtaking images from around the globe. A concierge desk offers an informal welcome point at the start of a corridor leading to the first of a number of shared spaces and one of the best views in Auckland.

Golden, soft-leather wallcoverings and herringbone timber floors usher towards a café and bar area where the party really is in the kitchen. There is always a social gathering of sorts in this space, with the many and varied functions and events helping to foster that creative community spirit with which Generator seeks to be associated.

The bar area itself is curved white stone and feels just as approachable for a coffee at 10am as it does for a glass of wine at the end of the day. The horizontal hanging garden overhead works well with the Autex ceiling system and perforated plasterboard to soundproof the vibrant hub.

The semi-random approach to lighting is very Generator; not driven by strict modularity or regularity, it acknowledges that this communal space will be used in all sorts of ways. Recess-mounted lights sit alongside tiny pendants that create pools of light on the floor and the low-glare nature of the lighting ensures that those wanting to work on their laptops in this space will be comfortable doing so.

Further into the body of the building, public areas begin to transition to private, co-working spaces via a mix of meeting rooms run by an online booking system offered through the concierge.

Expedia is considered to be one of Britomart Place’s flagship tenants, accounting for 50 per cent of the floor space on its level and almost 20 per cent of the entire space on offer. Other tenants include tech companies, fashion designers, bottled water suppliers and PRs; each hires space for one, four to six, 10 or more – whatever works for them.

The three floors share an internal stairwell and offer a variety of office settings, with residents able to accessorise and brand their spaces to a certain degree. The top level offers a second bar and café but, this time, it is more designer club meets Starship Enterprise bridge: backlit and with three layers of translucency.

Architecture and design practice CPRW Fisher was responsible for the Britomart Place fit-out, having worked extensively with Generator in the past across their other Auckland locations. Director David Morgan explains that the hard fit-out was almost 100 per cent intact when the 3,760m² space was vacated.

“We saw a number of advantages in retaining and augmenting existing elements where possible, including environmental, timing and commercial benefits,” says Morgan. “Approximately 55 per cent of existing solid/glazed partitions were retained or reused, along with 25 per cent of existing floor finishes and 20 per cent of existing kitchen and utility joinery.”

A diverse palette of new materials and finishes was then layered throughout, including solid oak flooring, carpet tiles made from recycled fishing nets, bronze-tinted mirrors, bespoke leather and timber wall panels, and an eclectic mix of soft fit-out pieces.

Generator founder Ryan Wilson likes to find connections and nuances that reference the history of each of the company’s sites, so CPRW Fisher designer Luciano Velocci introduced subtle details like a stylised shoreline on the ceiling of the Level 10 café area and a leather wall panel patterning derived from a pencil rubbing of an existing vinyl wallcovering on the executive level.

It is touches like this, coupled with clever repurposing and re-imagining, and layered eclecticism and elegance, that has resulted in a very different offering from Generator, both aesthetically and functionally. Yet, thankfully, this premium offering has not lost sight of its Generator roots because the buzz and vibe of collaboration and community are just as present here as they are elsewhere, albeit in a somewhat more salubrious and sensational setting. 

This article first appeared in Interior magazine

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