10 May 2016
Australia’s leading fitout and refurbishment company SHAPE
Australia is capitalising on Australia’s healthy commercial sector,
booking $335 million in work to date this financial year following
a strong 2015.
The national group has seen strong revenue from the commercial
sector in line with international investment that has driven strong
upgrade and refurbishment in Australia’s CBDs.
The latest Property Council of Australia Office Market Report
shows demand for commercial space is on the rise, with vacancy
rates falling in 13 of 17 markets surveyed.
With more than 780,000 square metres of stock to come online in
2016 nationally, SHAPE is confident it will exceed its FY15 revenue
of $412 million.
SHAPE Group Executive, Property, Glen Thompson said the
commercial office sector accounted for almost half of all of
SHAPE’s work as premium grade offices come online and existing
asset owners ramp up their offerings to lure tenants in the
competitive market.
“What we are seeing is a continued demand for office fitout and
refurbishment and a renewed interest in showpiece offices. These
are highly considered innovative environments that combine the best
in finishes with the latest in workplace productivity design to
stand out from the rest,” he said.
“First impressions are important and we have many clients using
internationally-experienced architects and partners to deliver
statement offices.
“We are seeing particular growth in Sydney and Melbourne, which
reflects the latest Office Market Report, but in these markets
there is also a change underway. This change is being driven by the
tech companies moving in to CBDs and turning traditional office
design on its head.
“We are also seeing big change in the legal sector where
walls are coming down in favour of open plan, as well as more
social and executive lounge areas for clients and staff.”
SHAPE, which changed its name from ISIS Group Australia in 2015,
completed over 212,000 square metres of commercial office work in
FY15 and transformed a total of 360,000 square metres of space
across Australia.
While office accounts for almost 50 per cent of revenue,
education has emerged as a strong sector, with SHAPE completing $78
million worth of education projects in FY15.
It is currently working on universities across the nation,
including University of Technology Sydney, Australian Catholic
University Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Curtin University
and Edith Cowan University.
This year major projects include a large scale refurbishment of
Challenger Financial Services Martin Place offices, delivery of new
offices for DLA Piper and Allens at Grocon’s new 480 Queen Street
tower in Brisbane, continued major works to Canberra Hospital and
the Australian Catholic University, as well as a pipeline of South
Australian projects including refurbishment of the BankSA head
office in Adelaide.
“While Sydney and Melbourne are traditionally busy markets, due
to the vacancy rates in Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Darwin we are
seeing demand for commercial refurbishment work surge in these
areas,” Mr Thompson said.
“The demand for refurbishment and fitout work is
heartening and puts us in good stead to finish FY16 on a high.”