Cremorne Office, Melbourne, Victoria interior

Cremorne Office interior, Melbourne commercial design, Victoria workspace, Australian architecture photos

Cremorne Office in Melbourne, Victoria

24 April 2026

Architects: Katz Architecture

Location: Cremorne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Photos: John Best

Cremorne Office in Melbourne, Australia

The project converts an old factory into a contemporary studio. Transforming a tight site into a bright team focussed office for 20. Clever use of skylights and a raised roof provides a dramatic interior. Revelling in its past with earthy finishes: raw concrete, zincalume, plywood – complimented with carefully selected colours.

The intention was to repurpose the industrial building, retaining its character and upgrading with modern inserts to define the new functions.

Internally the industrial past of the building is showcased, with raw concrete block revealing its history with elegant imperfections. Floors are typically concrete throughout except to the grass break out space to the rear. The roof is relined, but uses raw zincalume, perforated for acoustic treatment. The existing steel structure where retained is painted black and provides a structural rhythm to the building form. The centre roof raises dramatically towards the rear providing an unexpected skylight view, lofty space with abundant natural light.

Uniting throughout is a continuous plywood wall, offering soft timber tones punctuated with dark coloured recesses that provides easily accessed information and seating alcoves. Whilst discretely integrated it is immediately convenient to the workspace for efficiency.

The compact space feels large through the clever us of a dark recessive colour to the rear wall, together with a bold mirror slot providing a window view back into the space and giving a sense of continuity. Here the kitchen is openly concealed in matt black laminate, yet fully accessible, active and inviting to staff.

The brief for the architects office required a flexible and collaborative workspace that promotes a values team. It needed to reflect the strong identity, brand and ethos of the firm.

The façade features super-sized elements of the corporate brand, coloured to highlight its natural focus and Australian earth red foundation. The bold use of the brand colour is tied into the public interior spaces, uniting the entry with the meeting room as main public focus. Adjacent this, natural earthy materials provide a cool tactile balance to the corporate accent.

Meeting and exhibition spaces are adaptable and flexible with large sliding glass screens, featuring ultra slim black frames. Access to trade samples and library needs to be easy for both staff and visiting reps – the plywood “Information Wall” houses these central to the entire workspace. Adjacent to this, 2 perforated steel magnet boards provide a constant resource of emerging ideas and concepts, intended to stimulate and involve all staff in developing inspired solutions.

A breakout area to the rear features synthetic turf, with a high table promoting casual interaction and connection between staff. Together with live plants throughout, it serves to encourage, reward and value staff.

Sustainability

The reuse and repurpose of the old industrial building into a vibrant new studio ensures the retention of the embodied energy of the base building materials. Thick concrete walls are retained complete with imperfections that characterise its history. Together with exposed concrete floors, excellent thermal mass is achieved to ensure minimal temperature fluctuations internally.

As a single level building, full advantage of skylights is made throughout to maximise daylight and minimise use of the high efficiency LED lighting.

The raised ceiling features high performance double glass, with blinds to control glare. Operable electronic controls to pairs of window awnings enables complete natural ventilation. When required, two separate mechanical units can be used independently, and are discretely located in perimeter ceilings without any messy ducting requirement.

The main ceilings are constructed from raw zinc sheet, perforated for acoustics and requiring no painting or maintenance for life. The Information wall features FSC certified plywood with factory applied powdercote finish. Internal paints are minimised to the perimeter areas only and are low VOC.

Workstations and furniture are 100% recycled, sourced from a large ANZ city relocation. Plants throughout offer greenery and contribute further to IEQ and a safe and healthy interior.

Historic Factory Conversion to Modern Workplace

How did Katz Architecture approach the challenge of transforming an old factory into a contemporary office while retaining its industrial character? What specific elements were crucial in showcasing the building’s history and elegant imperfections while upgrading it for modern use?

Katz Architecture approached the conversion of the former factory with a strategy grounded in respect for the building’s industrial provenance, treating the existing structure as a framework to be revealed rather than concealed. The design sought to retain the spatial authenticity and material richness of the original building while sensitively adapting it to meet the demands of a contemporary workplace.

Critical to this approach was the preservation and celebration of key industrial elements, including exposed brick and concrete surfaces, all left largely intact to showcase the building’s history. Signs of wear, irregularity, and patina were intentionally retained as “elegant imperfections,” allowing the building’s past to remain legible.

High ceilings and large industrial windows were introduced to maintain the openness, light, and scale characteristic of the factory’s former use. Modern upgrades were introduced as clearly articulated, lightweight interventions that contrast subtly with the existing fabric. New services, lighting, and joinery were integrated, ensuring that contemporary requirements for comfort, flexibility, and performance were met without diminishing the dominance of the original structure. Through this balanced dialogue between old and new, the project reframes industrial heritage as an asset—delivering a workplace that is both highly functional and deeply connected to its architectural history.