Steph O’Sullivan with, from left, customer and community services group manager Sally Sheedy, community services manager Brad Ward and arborist planner James Richardson.
The upgrade and refit of Waipā District’ Council’s Roche Street building came in under budget and finished weeks early.
Te Awamutu Museum and Waipa staff occupied the Roche Street building.
Waipā District Council chief executive Steph O’Sullivan with, from left, customer and community services group manager Sally Sheedy, community services manager Brad Ward and arborist planner James Richardson. Photo: Chris Gardner.
About a third of the council’s 370 staff moved back to the building from temporary office space in Rickett Road last week after a three-year programme of work designed to upgrade the building to meet earthquake standards.
Council chief executive Steph O’Sullivan said $6.18 million had been budgeted for the upgrade which was due to be finished just before Christmas.
In fact, $5.9 million had been spent and the work had finished about three weeks early.
O’Sullivan joined the council almost two years into the project and became involved in guiding the internal refit to suit modern working practices and build work culture.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” O’Sullivan said.
The old way of working was coming to your desk and deciding what you were doing on any given day, she said, but the refit had turned that idea on its head.
The project had created adaptable workspaces where staff could decide what part of the building to work in based on the activity of the day.
The new office has hot desks that accommodate 70 per cent of the staff, as a percentage are often out of the office working in the community, allowing staff to sit in their teams or sit in other teams when they are collaborating on projects.
The refit includes break out rooms, where staff can meet, sound proof space, where they can have confidential conversations, and a wellbeing room, where they can take time out. All parts of the building are named after prominent parts of the district’s geography including the awa and maunga.
The workplace also features mana whenua inspired artwork by Maungatautari Marae artist Eugene Carter.
Waipā District Council chief executive Steph O’Sullivan with, from left, customer and community services group manager Sally Sheedy, community services manager Brad Ward and arborist planner James Richardson. Photo: Chris Gardner.
