LawFuel.com – New Zealand Law – Law Jobs – The new offices of law firm Chapman Tripp, one of Wellington’s largest and oldest commercial enterprises, were officially opened by Prime Minister Helen Clark last night.
The firm moved to its new premises occupying the top six floors of 10 Customhouse Quay in October last year, and its new client centre was completed in January. The client centre was unveiled to some of New Zealand’s leading business, legal and public sector decision makers at last night’s opening event. It features a variety of rooms and facilities to enable the firm to host meetings, presentations and dinners, as well as negotiations and arbitrations.
Chief Executive, Alastair Carruthers, said the firm’s clients had helped to design the new floor of facilities that is focused on them. The design of the floor incorporates modern and sustainable materials, industry leading acoustic technology to ensure minimum sound disturbance between rooms, and state of the art audio visual tools.
“The new client centre offers an outstanding space from which to conduct business, while enjoying views of the harbour and city. We hope our clients will feel at home doing business here,” said Mr Carruthers.
The opening ceremony included a speech by the Prime Minister and a performance by the Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus.
Mr Carruthers said that last year’s move to the new premises was driven by a desire to give clients and staff high quality meeting and working spaces. Starting with a bare floor plan had enabled the firm to re-think how it used space and it has reduced leased space by a third – with no resulting increase in occupancy costs.
Starting from scratch had also allowed the firm to design a workspace specifically to its requirements, for which it had engaged Australian-based workplace design firm, Geyer, who partnered with New Zealand interior designers, Warren and Mahoney. The consultation process involved reviewing both international contemporary space planning trends, as well as the firm’s own objectives of team collaboration and a strong focus on clients.
The resulting working space for staff includes a mixture of cellular and open plan offices, providing both quiet working spaces and a collaborative working environment.
