Raising the office ceiling:

Sustainable solutions for Ashurst’s 6-Star workplace

Challenging the stale convention of legal workplaces, Ashurst’s bold Sydney office reimagines the corporate work environment as a dynamic space fit for an agile future. The vision, designed and brought to life by Architectus and MPA, was to move beyond the traditional and create a flexible modern workplace that provides an exceptional experience for both its people and clients.

Traditionally, the law firm architecture was defined by formal design and colour palettes, restrictive spatial planning centred around private offices and a hierarchical layout conceived to project authority. Marking a deliberate departure from that design language, the Ashurst workplace is professional yet vibrant, warm and designed to foster connection and collaboration – heralding the legal profession’s shift towards a more agile, client-focused model.

Spanning eight interconnected levels and a sweeping expanse of approximately 10,000 m², the 39 Martin Place office features five working floors, hospitality-style amenities and a dedicated client floor that accommodates everything from formal meetings to large-scale events. There is also an alternative work floor offering a range of flexible and mobile settings tailored to the needs of different teams. Grounded in longevity, performance and adaptability, this environment embodies the global law firm’s future-forward mindset.

“Ashurst’s new Sydney office at 39 Martin Place is a state-of-the-art facility that will bring our people and clients together,” Lea Constantine, Ashurst’s Head of Region, Australia, states. “The firm is committed to creating working environments where people are supported to perform at their best, both in the office and at home. We’ve built a 21st-century workplace that serves our people and our clients.”

Sustainability from the start and from top to bottom

Essential to this workplace vision, sustainability became one of the project’s foundational forces, as evidenced by the ambitious goals for the building and the office space. The base building is 100% powered by renewable energy and has achieved both a 6 Star Green Star and a 5.5 Star NABERS Energy rating.

Reflecting this environmental rigour, the fit-out has also been designed to meet the highest Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) outcomes. From locally sourced materials and biophilic principles to optimum air quality and reduced water consumption, Ashurst’s office is a case study in efficiency, carbon reduction and employee well-being.

This ethos is embedded in every facet of the space – from top to bottom – and SAS International Australia’s two-ceiling solution plays a key role in this comprehensive design scheme. The SAS330 Suspended Ceiling and SAS750 Tubeline Ceiling System are integrated throughout this multi-storey workplace, creating sweeping overhead landscapes that stretch above the bustling office. “These solutions were fundamental to achieving the project’s multifaceted goals of agility, functionality and sophistication,” states Craig Penton, General Manager at SAS International Australia.

“The SAS330 Suspended Ceiling lay-in tiles combined a beautiful aesthetic with high performance and offered the flexibility needed for seamless services integration without compromising on design integrity,” he describes the versatile system. From a visual perspective, the tiles’ white RAL9003 finish imbues the spaces with a crisp, modern appearance, providing a fitting visual frame for the office’s intricate palette of natural materials and lush greenery. The integration of this light shade across the expanse of the ceilings also helps maximise light and enhance the sense of space, contributing to a welcoming and productive atmosphere.

Complementing the SAS330 Suspended Ceiling, the SAS750 Tubeline Ceiling System’s dynamic design allowed the team to create a refined, linear overhead expression and add visual interest in collaborative spaces and circulation zones. This flexibility perfectly reflects the building’s agile aesthetic, while the gasketed profiles and clean grid formats reinforce the space’s high-end architectural expression.

The seamless integration of essential services, such as lighting, air diffusion and safety systems, further enhances this alignment by creating uncluttered and streamlined surfaces that contribute to a sophisticated, calmer and less distracting working environment – qualities only augmented by the solutions’ acoustic performance.

From a functional perspective, this integrated approach enables spatial flexibility, offering complete void access and modular layouts that can accommodate multiple reconfiguration needs – an essential requirement for a responsive office designed to embrace change far into the future. “The visual cohesion and adaptability,” adds Craig, “are bolstered by the systems’ long life expectancy, which simplifies maintenance and reinforces the project’s high-level sustainability ambitions.”

Sustainable horizon within reach

A deeper dive into SAS International Australia’s offering reveals that its solutions align with the project’s outstanding environmental goals on a much more intricate level. In fact, the very purpose of the company’s flagship SAS Horizon initiative is to offer ambitious architects and specifiers a range of high-performing, low-embodied-carbon products designed to support the circular economy and help reduce emissions in the built environment.

“The SAS Horizon products are made with over 90% of recycled content and manufactured using renewable energy. They can reduce the embodied carbon of customer projects by up to 60% compared to regular steel,” Craig explains. “It means they get all the advantages of steel, but with the same embodied carbon as mineral fibre, wood wool and felt.”

He adds that whether the project targets Green Star or NABERS, or simply pursues ambitious sustainability goals, SAS Horizon brings sustainability to the forefront of architectural design. “Which is why our ceiling solutions are a good fit for projects like Ashurst,” Craig says, “where sustainability is at the forefront of every design decision.”

Certified sustainability: Cradle to Cradle

Further highlighting the suitability of SAS International Australia’s solutions for commercial projects prioritising sustainability is the Cradle-to-Cradle Certified® Bronze Version accreditation, which the company achieved in 2023 across the majority of its product range as the first ceiling manufacturer.

In this project, the certification provided the design team with the verified documentation needed to help meet the required sustainability benchmarks for the Green Star rating. “It’s essential for us to ensure we can offer architects, designers and specifiers sustainable solutions to help bring their increasingly advanced sustainability agendas to life,” Craig explains. “Which is why we’re committed to achieving Cradle to Cradle Certified® Silver by 2026 and Gold by 2029. The SAS Horizon program is a crucial part of our journey toward achieving these accreditations as well as our 2040 net-zero carbon goals.”

Starting from the top: Expert advice for a sustainable future

And while Craig’s gaze is firmly set on fostering a more sustainable built environment into the future, to him, the success of the Ashurst project reveals a more immediate message for the industry: engage with manufacturers early when specifying architectural systems.

“By collaborating from the outset, design and performance ambitions can be fully aligned with the right technical solutions,” Craig explains. “For the Ashurst project, this early integration allowed for the optimal product selection to balance acoustics, material efficiency and compliance, while maintaining the desired aesthetic.” The result, he says, is a workspace that meets the client’s immediate needs but also supports their long-term sustainability goals. “Specifying with foresight and precision ensures that all systems contribute positively to both the building’s lifecycle and the well-being of its occupants.”

And what makes this outstanding result even more impressive is the fact that the Ashurst future-forward fit-out utilises products from SAS International Australia’s standard range. “They weren’t custom-made or manufactured bespoke,” concludes Craig. “That means if we’re engaged at the right time, anyone can specify them in order to pursue the same goals.”