Thrive is a 23-storey building in Melbourne’s Docklands, designed by Hassell Studio for Cbus Property, the development’s owners, and Medibank, the country’s leading health insurance company, which has taken out a lease on a large portion of building, and moved its headquarters there.
The design of the Thrive is geared entirely towards sustainability and a health-based working culture. Ingrid Bakker, Managing Director of Hassell Melbourne, explained: “The Thrive is a landmark on the Melbourne skyline and an ideal workplace for the staff of Medibank and the other companies based there. In keeping with the company’s slogan for better health, Medibank’s design brief focused on the creation of a work environment that would contribute to nurturing the health of employees and promoting a healthy lifestyle.”
Medibank has signed a 10-year lease on the 100 million-dollar project, which aims to become one of just a handful of buildings in Australia to obtain a 6-star sustainability rating under the Green Star certification system and a 5-star rating under NABERS, the National Australian Built Environment Rating System.
The Thrive’s façades
With almost 10% of its exterior covered with indigenous plants, distributed between 520 façade-mounted planters and two “green walls” measuring 25 metres in height and overlooking Bourke Street, the Thrive is a “living, breathing building” that provides an oasis of greenery in the midst of a highly built-up area.
The combination of the plants and the curved lines of the façade soften the building’s outline and give it an unpredictable profile, in stark contrast with the hard outlines usually associated with urban towers.
The design of the green façades is particularly ambitious, partly because of Melbourne’s temperate climate and partly because of the building’s exposure to salt air. So in order to select the most suitable plant species, Hassell’s design department worked in partnership with Fytogreen, a company specialising in systems and technologies for greening the built environment.
“The Thrive is probably the largest green façade project ever undertaken this far south of the equator,” explained Travis Hemley, a Senior Associate at Hassell. “The plants form an integral part of the concept embraced by both clients, Cbus Property and Medibank.”
Medibank Place - 720 Bourke Street
In designing the Thrive, Medibank, Australia’s largest health insurance company, gave top priority to creating a healthy work environment for its staff and a monument to environmental integrity that benefits the whole community.
The design of the work environment thus embraces the principles of Activity Based Working, and complements them with those of Health Based Working (an approach to workplace design that places the mental and physical health of people at its heart). The result is that Medibank staff are free to choose where and how they work, because a range of options are open to them, including indoor quiet spaces, a library, Wi-Fi-enabled balconies designed as collaborative hubs, standing workstations, and green areas that aid concentration by enabling people to walk around as they work.
The interior design also pays close attention to colour, which it uses as a creative stimulus and key element in achieving environmental well-being. That’s why the architects specified over 3,000 square metres of visually striking floor coverings from the Taralay Premium range by Gerflor*, which was awarded the highest level of certification obtainable by resilient floors under the Australian Green Tag green product certification scheme. The Taralay range combines eco-sustainability with low maintenance and a fantastic palette of pastels.
The new Medibank HQ also features an innovative system of Circadian lighting, which mimics natural daylight patterns and enhances performance by supporting people’s biorhythms.
Staff can also make use of a multi-purpose sports court at ground level, built next to an edible garden and demonstration kitchen, which is used for promoting healthy eating to both staff, organisations and the wider community.
