85 m²A compact Melbourne fitout shaped by the building it belongs to.
Project Overview
Concept delivered a new 85sqm office fitout for Wellman Finance at Suite 5.01, 130 Little Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD. Working within a base building tenancy defined by the building’s distinctive curved architecture, the project required every square metre to earn its place — delivering a complete brief within a highly efficient footprint.
Client Vision
Wellman Finance came to the project with a clear point of view: a timeless, elegant interior that responded to the building’s character rather than working against it. The brief was not trend-driven — the client wanted a space that would feel considered and enduring, with all key functions within close reach of one another and a sense of warmth that made the workplace feel personal.
Planning and Workplace Experience
The tenancy is organised around a clear directional sequence: the welcome area greets visitors at entry, the boardroom sits off to the side for private client meetings, eight workstations are grouped for close collaboration, and the combined kitchen, breakout, and utilities anchor the rear. A timber privacy screen separates the arrival experience from back-of-house without closing the space off. Every zone is within a few steps of the next — a deliberate response to the compact scale.
Design Approach
Timber vinyl flooring lays a directional pathway from entry to the rear of the tenancy, unifying the space and guiding movement naturally. A surface-mounted rug in the welcome area introduces warmth and a residential quality at the first point of contact.
Stone-look laminate and warm neutrals carry through the joinery, tying the palette together with a quiet coherence. In the boardroom, a bespoke curved credenza follows the structural curve of the building’s external wall — one of the project’s most resolved details, connecting the interior language directly to the architecture it sits within. A curtain wall softens the boardroom acoustically and aesthetically without diminishing the space.
The kitchen features an upper feature shelf and wall light that reinforce the residential concept, creating a breakout space that feels genuinely inviting rather than purely functional.
Delivery
Concept delivered the fitout as a new tenancy within a base building, managing the full programme from design through to completion. The central challenge was fitting a complete brief into 85 square metres — resolved through precise space planning without compromise to any functional requirement.
Outcome
The completed workplace gives Wellman Finance a refined, well-resolved base at 130 Little Collins Street — compact in scale but complete in function. The timeless aesthetic ensures the space will remain relevant well beyond the build date, consistent with the client’s original intent.
Workplace Strategy
The layout reflects a close working culture, with all team members and client-facing spaces within immediate reach of each other. Collaboration is anchored in the boardroom, while the building and its immediate surrounds offer broader breakout amenity – freeing the tenancy to prioritise workstations and client interaction over large informal zones.
