Beach Street Industrial Project
Some sites arrive with contamination, flooding risk and a wildly inconvenient shape – and somehow they always end up on our desk. This one was no exception.
The site in Kogarah held an early 20th-century storage shed and factory in poor condition. It was demolished to make way for a completely new building, designed by us: two modern factories, planned as two separate tenancies, so our client could use one and earn rental income from the other.
The extra height gave us an opportunity. Rather than putting the main offices only at the very top, we split it: a dispatch office on the first floor oversees the main factory floor, and the upper-floor offices overhang it, shading the dispatch level. The design includes:
- Two factories with high-bay access doors and side loading
- Two entry points for large rigid and articulated vehicles, with turning paths so semi-trailers can reverse into loading docks and side-load containers
- Staff facilities, including toilets and staff rooms, on the ground floor
- A dispatch office on the first floor, overseeing factory operations
- Corporate offices above, each with its own breakout space and private balcony
Today the building is used by a single tenant, an organisation that provides meaningful employment for people with intellectual disabilities. The two office areas have been joined into one large corporate office, and the balconies are there for Friday afternoon drinks, catch-ups and winding down with the team. As much of the work is food related, the building now also has upgraded hygiene facilities, new cool rooms and a large staff canteen.
The result balances the practical needs of an industrial facility with a more human, welcoming workplace.
