Harnessing collective ingenuity at Northrop

When you look at some of Australia’s most iconic public domains, sports and entertainment precincts, university campuses, and commercial landmarks, the team from Northrop have likely had a hand in it. The specialist team of civil, structural, building services, and sustainability engineers have been shaping Australia’s built environment since 1976.

In 2023, amid sustained growth and an expiring Sydney CBD lease, Northrop engaged COMUNiTI to:

• provide data and insights to inform the decision about whether to refurbish their office or relocate
• develop a contemporary workplace strategy to support growth and enhance their employer brand
• be a trusted advisor on commercial decisions during office shortlisting and construction, and 
• set a new standard for upskilling leaders and engaging employees through change.

 

The Result

A new, purpose-built, 1850sqm office space in Sydney’s CBD.

The innovative office design has redefined how the team works at Northrop, providing unmatched flexibility through the variety of spaces that employees can choose to work in. ‘Work’ no longer needs to happen from a fixed desk. Work also happens in collaboration zones, quiet rooms, the library, the working cafè, breakout areas, team hubs, and meeting rooms.

For the team, transitioning from a fixed to flexible workplace has not only given them more autonomy and choice, it’s also fostered open mindsets and broken down silos, enabling more multi-disciplinary problem-solving — it’s fuelling their collective ingenuity.

This workplace change has also reframed the relationship between the organisation and its people. Change is no longer something ‘done to’ employees. Thoughtful change management, communication, and co-design activities built new levels of trust by taking the team on the journey together.

This investment in change management paid dividends as people willingly adapted to the change, rather than resisting it. They understood why the change was necessary, what it meant for them, and how to use the new spaces most effectively. And, they know the co-design process was genuine, with their feedback reflected in an office design that supports workflows, reduces friction points, and accommodates neurodivergence and preferred work styles.

Leaders have also gained new confidence and capability in leading change, which Northrop continues to benefit from. Supported by training, practical communication guides, and regular coaching, these engineers and technical specialists successfully applied the ‘soft skills’ critical to the project’s success.

Northrop’s 400 George Street office is a thriving workplace, enhancing both the employee and client experience. It was a catalyst project that continues to move the dial on Northrop’s culture and performance.

 

“Providing a great workplace where our people can come together and do their best work is foundational to our ambitious growth plan.  Our new workplace has created an environment that fosters collaboration and creates space for ingenuity”

– Stephen Fryer, Northrop Greater Sydney Lead

The Task

Create space for sustained growth

Northrop had been in its 345 George Street location for more than 10 years. The concept of ‘work’ and the purpose of the office had changed significantly in that time and Northrop had continued to grow.

Northrop’s leadership team wanted to understand how much space they required in their Sydney CBD workplace to better support current workflows as well as 5-year growth projections, which will see the Sydney team grow from 220 to 350 people. 

COMUNiTI undertook observational studies, analysed office utilisation data, interviewed leaders and employees, and mapped ways of working to provide Northrop with quantifiable data and answers to key questions, like:

How many desks do we need?

What’s the right number of meeting rooms and breakout spaces?

How can we make more space for amenities while being prudent with budget?

How do we provide flexibility and choice, beyond just working-from-home?

How many square metres of floorspace do we need, based on growth projections?

 

Provide more flexibility 

Since the pandemic, Northrop, like many organisations, sought to encourage people to return to office to foster team culture, connection, and mentorship, especially for younger engineers.

While Northrop was already embracing flexible work and had no intention of rolling out return-to-office mandates, they did want to ensure their physical workplace was not hindering this return. 

COMUNiTI’s deep-dive workshops and online employee survey revealed several unspoken truths about the office hindering productivity, and hence, a reluctance from several employees to return in-person.

For example, the open-plan layout created so much noise and distraction that team members worked from home on days they saw they had a full day of meetings to ensure they could hear and be heard. Similarly, the lack of meeting room availability forced colleagues in the office to hold virtual meetings with headphones on, even when seated side by side.

Beyond the standard rows of desks, a handful of meeting rooms, and a busy kitchen, there were no alternative work points for employees to choose from — no where to make client calls, have a confidential discussion, do deep concentrative work, or collaboratively problem-solve.

 

“The deep-dive engagement activities are so important. It means we can hold a mirror up and report back on the organisation’s ‘blind spots’. 

For Northrop, people told us they had nowhere to make calls in the office, nowhere to put their muddy work boots after they’d been on a project site, the chairs were uncomfortable… and it’s uncanny how much the coffee machine means to people, in every work place! 

Employee insights are invaluable. It means we can design a workplace that’s fit for people, not just a floorplate.”

– Melissa Marsden, COMUNiTI Founder & Director

 

Elevate the client and employee experience

Not only had Northrop been in their office for more than 10 years, they’d also inherited many features from previous tenants, meaning some elements were more than 20 years old.

From the uncomfortable chairs and mis-matched furniture, to the outdated technology, aesthetics, and kitchen facilities, it’s fair to say the office felt tired and did not reflect the vibrancy of Northrop’s team or the feats of engineering they deliver on their projects.

Northrop proudly hosts many client and industry events, but during COMUNiTI’s engagement activities the team reported that they didn’t feel particularly proud about hosting these events in their outdated office. 

Northrop wanted a workplace that delivered a client and employee experience that aligned with their value proposition and aspirations for the future. They wanted an office that made a statement akin to the engineering projects they deliver.

 

“Great ideas come from around the table.” 

This motto is well-known at Northrop. It’s a statement made famous by the company’s founder. But, in Northorp’s old Sydney CBD office, there was no ‘said table’ for teams to share ideas around.

The Solution

A new office

COMUNiTI provided answers about the future of work at Northrop. Our studies revealed: 

• Office attendance: An average of 39%, meaning only 86 of the 220 employees who call the Sydney CBD office their home base attended on any given day.
• Office utilisation: An average of 52%, with 167 desks provided on a 1:1 ratio but only 86 being used daily.

This data unlocked opportunities, serving as a baseline for scenario models that addressed current capacity and Northrop’s 5-year growth projections. These insights helped facilitate discussions about sharing ratios, floorplate size, and cost analysis, weighing options between refurbishing at 345 George Street or pursuing a new tenancy. 

We pursued five new tenancies and considered the pros and cons of each against a weighted decision matrix. This data and decision-making process made the choice clear and Northrop signed a lease agreement at 400 George Street.

A space that is uniquely Northrop

Like most businesses, Northrop has a proud history and a unique brand story to tell.

COMUNiTI developed a brand experience package and test fit plans based on a metaphor — this metaphor spoke to who Northrop is at its core, and its aspirations for the future, based on what we had seen, heard, and experienced in our own engagement with employees and leaders.

The metaphor described in words what the materiality and spaces needed to communicate in the new office. It guided the creation of an experience — how we want people to feel when they come into the 400 George Street workplace.

This brand experience package was handed over to the design team to guide the workplace design and construction.

“I love how much it feels like ‘us’.”

– Isabel Duffy, Principal Northrop

 

Shared spaces

Culturally, Northrop wanted to shift mindsets from ‘me’ to ‘we’, encouraging multi-disciplinary thinking, breaking down silos, and prioritising team needs over individual preferences. A new workplace became the impetus.

Northrop boldly introduced a shared desk arrangement called ‘Desk for a Day’, with six desks for every ten employees (60% ratio), transitioning to 50% over a 5-year growth horizon.

Financially, the move to shared desking made sense: based on office utilisation data, idle and unused desks could be costing Northrop up to $3,000 a day, $15,000 a month, and $800,000 a year. 

While the move to shared desks means Northrop isn’t providing a desk for every employee, office utilisation data shows ample desks will be available on most days. And, even if all employees were to attend the Sydney CBD office at the same time, there would still be enough workpoints for everyone thanks to the variety of spaces available like quiet rooms, team hub tables, and the working café.

The mindset shift for employees was significant: no one ‘owns’ a desk, there are no ‘personal draws’, and employees have to adapt to sitting next to different colleagues each day.

Logistically this change was underpinned by a good quality desk management booking system, and the provision of lockers and storage shelves for personal belongings. Emotionally, it was enabled through carefully planned and leader-led change management.

 

“Leading our people through the change management process has been one of the most impactful activities we have engaged in.  It has enabled them to contribute to the design and development of our new space, but has also ensured that we brought them on the journey with us, they understood why we made the decisions we did, and they are now using the spaces as they were intended”

– Stephen Fryer, Greater Sydney Lead, Northrop

Taking people on the journey

The old adage ‘build it and they will come’ doesn’t ring true when it comes to workplace change. While the new 400 George Street office would be highly appealing to employees, the nature of change required a well-planned communication schedule to actively engage employees’ hearts and minds before, during, and after the relocation. And, engaging hearts and minds takes more than an ‘all employee email from corporate’.

COMUNiTI developed a campaign-style, multi-channel communication program around the concept of ‘400 Georges’. 

The 400 Georges of 400 George Street became mascots of sorts… they embodied the different ways in which the Northrop team would be able to make use of the variety of spaces in the new office. The George and Georgina characters became a relatable and friendly vehicle for Northrop to share frequent knowledge bites and get the team excited about the move. 

The campaign characters sent frequent messages, helping prepare the team to work in new ways and shift their mindset about what it means to work in a modern office environment in 2024 and beyond. 

There was Barista George, Meeting Room George, Desk-booking George, Dirty Boot George, just to name a few…

 

Change leadership

Like many technical fields, engineering curricula rarely includes ‘people leadership’ or ‘leading through change’. Similarly, many leaders at Northrop hold their positions because of their technical expertise and years of infrastructure experience.

This workplace change was the perfect opportunity for Northrop to bolster its change leadership capability. 

People leaders and aspiring leaders became our ‘culture carriers’ — they were responsible for actively promoting and role modelling the mindsets and behaviours that not only align with Northorp’s aspirational culture, but would also be required to work in new ways at 400 George Street.

COMUNiTI worked directly with this group of ‘internal influencers’, ensuring they could share information, role model behaviours, and provide ongoing support to their teams through the transition. 

The change leadership program involved webinars and online courses, live Q&A sessions, team meeting briefing packs with speaker’s notes, roving reporter kits with key messages, and a suite of practical change management models and communication frameworks. COMUNiTI also coached this group of leaders to develop new ‘social contracts’ with their teams and a schedule of rituals to support purposeful days in the office and fresh ways of working.

For Northrop, this leadership program will provide a return on investment, for years to come.

 

 

Project Team

Workplace Strategy, Design Advisory & Change Leadership: COMUNiTI

Design Development: Group GSA

Project Architect & Documentation: Gray Puksand

Project Management: Forge Venture Management

Services Engineers: Evolved Engineering 

Cost Planner: Collaborative Cost Management