Light and shadow play a significant role in this top floor office design, and by keeping the décor simple with a tight palette, Studio Allan Marshall (SAM) have created a Japanese inspired workplace that remains calm, while encouraging collaboration and productivity. Named Kuroki, a Japanese surname meaning “black tree”, the project draws on Japanese design principles. The material palette does the rest as the depth of Laminex Black sits alongside a warm Australian woodgrain in Laminex Victorian Ash TrueScale™, both in AbsoluteGrain® finish. As the day unfolds, natural light transforms the workplace with a quiet sense of rhythm.
With light pouring in from all directions, Allan Marshall, director of his namesake studio, looked to design this Sydney office to take advantage of all that light, creating interest via shadow lines and well-placed pillars. If anything, this top floor office is measured, replacing drama with gentle and considerate details that intrigue rather than distract. One can imagine arriving in the morning to brilliant sun, you move, you pause, the light changes and you notice something different. Inspiration without distraction. An office of tranquillity and peace.
“People spend a lot of time in offices, so it should be somewhere that’s welcoming, that creates calm, allows ideas to flow and brings the team together. To really do your best work, this should be one of the most inspiring places you’re in.” says Marshall.
This is where SAM thrives. Their understanding that people do their best work when at ease and inspired to act is what makes this project feel the way it does. SAM’s narrative-led design process allows the whole floor, from arrival to desk, to kitchen and breakout rooms to feel connected, even as each space may have a different purpose with its own needs and requirements.
“We wanted the space to feel like a journey, where you move through and experience different areas depending on what you and your team need at that particular moment,” explains Marshall.
Some spaces invite gathering, while others are designed for solitude. There are sofas and small tables for conversational moments, just as there are stools overlooking the Sydney skyline for quiet reflection. This is an office, so there are boardrooms and desks, of course, but even as the spaces reveal themselves to the user or guest, the steady rhythm and consistency of the design language don’t overstimulate but instill the calmness of SAM’s intent; a place for people to do their best work.
In the communal kitchen area, Laminex Victorian Ash TrueScale™ in AbsoluteGrain® finish has been used across custom tables & joinery, paired with Laminex Architectural Wall Panels Victorian Ash TrueScale™ in AbsoluteGrain® finish, Classic Flat with Black Shadowline, Pencil Line Joint.
That approach extends to the material selections. Rather than specifying black, SAM sought a surface that retained the warmth, depth and character of timber. Laminex Black in AbsoluteGrain® finish answered the brief, allowing SAM to work with the emotional qualities of natural materials while delivering the performance which commercial spaces demand.
Used consistently across the joinery, cabinetry and communal spaces, it establishes a material language that is carried quietly throughout the project. That same material language continues with the use of Laminex Architectural Wall Panels in Classic Flat profile, specified here with the Pencil Line Joint, it brings subtle definition to the joinery while maintaining the disciplined aesthetic.
Left: Laminex Architectural Wall Panels Black in AbsoluteGrain® finish, Classic Flat with Black Shadowline, Pencil Line Joint.
Right: Kitchen cabinetry in Laminex Black in AbsoluteGrain® finish & beams in Laminex Victorian Ash TrueScale™ in AbsoluteGrain® finish.
Laminex Victorian Ash TrueScale™ in AbsoluteGrain® finish brings a softer element, and together they respond to the changing light rather than simply absorbing it. The woodgrains gradually shift throughout the day, revealing something different as time passes. A counterpart to the black woodgrain, the Laminex Victorian Ash TrueScale™ upholds the design principles set out from the start. Used for beams and columns they separate and guide between spaces, becoming a gentle, almost subconscious wayfinding device. ‘Follow the light’, it seems to say, before revealing your destination or smiling colleague.
“We really feel that the quality and the range that we get with Laminex is really suited to what our needs are,” says Marshall. "We also appreciate that it is an Australian company, we want to support as much local as we can."
In a commercial workplace, that emotional quality is only part of the story. The same surfaces also provide the durability, resilience and consistency demanded by everyday use, allowing the design intent to endure long after the project is complete.
“We landed on Laminex Victorian Ash TrueScale™. It’s a beautiful light timber finish that we’ve used throughout,” remembers Marshall, “[and] we were also looking for a black timber finish, and Laminex Black in AbsoluteGrain® finish was perfect because it has a natural timber texture rather than reading as a flat black surface. It adds a really premium quality while still retaining that timber character.”
“We wanted this space to feel natural, light and calming. What’s been really pleasing is that, from the initial concept, the design has remained remarkably consistent. Our original vision has carried all the way through to completion.”
Kuroki demonstrates what can happen when every decision serves the same idea. The result isn’t simply a workplace that performs well, but one that reveals more of itself over time – it’s changing light rewarding the people that spend their days moving through it.
Learn more about SAM on their website and order samples below.
Credits:
Design: Studio Allan Marshall
Build: ATG Projects
Joiner: Newcastle Made
Project Management: Forge Projects
Photography: Robert Nilsson
Video: The Local Project
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