A recent move - OPPO
Tenant – OPPO
New Home – Level 10, 87 Albert Street
Move date – September 2022
Interview with – Morgan Halim, Managing Director
How long did you stay at your previous premises?
Five years.
How far out did you start looking for new office premises? Was it long enough?
About a year before our lease was due to end, we formed a mini committee to assess our needs and look at options, including staying where we were. It was about the right amount of time because there were lots of COVID-19-related disruptions.
What were the key drivers for your move?
Our main driver was that we needed more space because our team had easily outgrown the space we had. We also wanted a space that could accommodate our future needs.
How did you determine what your future office should look like? Did looking at other sites help?
We have a growing team and we all had different ideas as to what would be ideal for us. So looking at different sites helped us have those conversations and figure out what we really needed versus wanted.
Did the move enable you to change the way you are working?
The space is more open, and we now have a bigger kitchen and lunch area so we’re able to collaborate and hold meetings easier.
Do you provide all team members with a fixed desk? Why or why not?
Yes, we all have a fixed desk because we’re full-time in the office.
Activity Based working (ABW) - fad or fabulous? Why?
Our team is small and so it already feels like we do this!
Now that you are occupying the new space, how has the feedback been from your team members? What is the biggest change?
We love our new office. We’re still putting in the finishing touches and figuring out the best way to utilise space. The biggest change would have to be getting used to the space and the new technology.
What piece of furniture has made the most impact with team members and how they work?
The best thing we’ve put in has to be the dedicated ‘The Room’ meeting booths. Just space for one person and that lets us have phone calls and video conferences in the office easily and privately.
Are end-of-trip facilities becoming more important? Have team members changed the way they are commuting to work because of this?
I don’t think our new office has much of this in place for people. I think there are bike spaces, but not a lot and I haven’t seen showers in the building.
What happened to your on-site storage needs? Have they changed? Are you using less paper?
We have some dedicated storage in our new office but not a lot. We’ve had to be disciplined in storing bigger or less used items in our off-site warehouse.
What are some of the things you did right with the fitout?
The furniture and the technology we chose were fab, despite having the odd hiccups with the meeting room tech. The Room meeting booths have added real value and we can’t live without them.
What is the one thing you would do differently with the fitout?
Ideally, we’d move when everything was done so as to minimise the disruptions. But I think we also needed to get used to the space and figure out what we were missing. We still have work to do on this!
What is the one piece of advice you would give another company looking to move premises?
Start earlier. We thought we started too early, but there could be unforeseen delays in moving in.
