Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia
Axle | South Eveleigh | Sydney | Australia | Lmi 81.9
In 2019, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) relocated employees from six different sites into their new building, Axle, in Sydney’s South Eveleigh.
Right from the start, the expectations for Axle were high. Before relocation these teams had already experienced top-tier working environments, with collective Lmi scores of 76.0. Yet, the CBA Group Property and Security team, exceeded all expectations and delivered one of the largest Leesman+ workplaces in 2019 and with an Lmi score of 81.9 – the highest in Australia.
The building spans more than 42,000m2 and is capable of accommodating up to 4,000 people. Designed as a fully flexible workplace, Axle offers an expansive variety of formal and informal spaces to support a plethora of work activities.
Meeting rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology to support CBA’s distributed teams. The ‘Retreat’ space on the ground floor also supports individual focused work, while offering employees a place to ‘recharge and reflect’. Open 24/7, CBA have cultivated
an environment which affords people the freedom to find their ideal space to work in at any time of the day.
CBA started this project with the intention of “providing an innovative workplace that offers an outstanding experience to our people” said Jennifer Saiz, Executive General Manager, Group Property and Security, Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “Our workplace design principles are underpinned by wellbeing, sustainability and connectivity.”
And they certainly lived up to their promise, with Axle recording among the highest scores across the Leesman+ workplaces for a number of work activities, including collaboration and relaxing / taking a break. Axle also bucked Leesman+ trends, despite being one of the larger workplaces; on average, it scored higher than the other Leesman+ workplaces on both accessibility of colleagues and sense of community.
CBA’s emphasis on wellbeing can be found throughout the building. With on-site consulting rooms and health hubs, healthy food options, three multi-purpose sports courts, a gym and access to two on-site child care centres, Axle is truly the innovative workplace that CBA intended.