CSIRO’s state-of-the-art ‘Synergy’

CSIRO is Australia’s national science research agency. Their brand-new HQ in Canberra features Spectrum’s iconic Artigo BS studded flooring.

The state-of-the-art facility (aptly called “Synergy”) at the Black Mountain Science & Innovation Park is a 15,000 sqm building of world-class research and support facilities with purpose-built laboratories.

The structure is essentially two buildings in one, with a carefully hidden building joint. The modern office space links to the laboratory building through steel and glass bridges at each of the four levels.

The workplace design approach considered the voices of the workforce, skeptical of “open plan” solutions for highly concentrated scientific research. So the architects at BVN created clusters, discrete through placement of meeting rooms and central facilities, At the end the building is “porous”, enabling a sense of a greater community.

This innovative building has been recognised with a series of awards in 2018, including;

  • RAIA ACT Chapter The Romaldo Giurgola Award for Public Architecture
  • RAIA ACT Chapter The Derek Wrigely Award for Sustainable Architecture
  • RAIA ACT Chapter Interior Architecture
  • Awards The Work Space Winner

For this project we contributed our iconic BS classic.