To the avid design enthusiast, One One One Eagle Street is a photograph of the future. The iconic building, still under construction in Brisbane's CBD, will define the workplace of tomorrow. Rising 54 levels into the sky and covering 65,000 square metres, it will be a home away from home for the employees fortunate enough to work there when it comes on line early next year.

Nature inspired design

Its design was inspired by the way a plant grows towards the light, a fitting analogy for companies that not only want to set the pace but to anticipate it. In the fickle area of design where many can buckle to passing trends, One One One Eagle Street has resisted such temptations. It is both timeless and classic, a picture of polished perfection. But design has not come at a cost to function.

A platform for long-term success

"Our vision was to develop a platform for the long-term success of our customers," explains Luke Briscoe, Office Investment Manager for the GPT Group, which owns the $696 million tower. "That meant myriad elements such as locating them close to their peers, clients and amenities. All of the design elements we have introduced to the building are set to ensure that a business operates as efficiently as it can, allowing it to then concentrate on what is important to that business."

"We have done that through over-specification which we believe is the key to future proofing a building." Consider some of its attributes. It will have a significant reduction in its carbon footprint through the use of tri-generation, in which a gas-fired generator is used to generate power. It also has a 6 star Green Star design rating, making it a world leader in sustainable design, as well as targeting a 5-star NABERS Energy rating.

It is designed to reduce both energy and water consumption. "We see an enormous opportunity to partner with our customers and to assist them in setting and achieving their own sustainability objectives," Briscoe says.

Listening to what the customer needs

More significant, perhaps, is that One One One Eagle Street is the culmination of the GPT Group's 40 years of experience in learning what exactly their customers need now and into the future. The Group is the owner and manager of a $9.8 billion diversified portfolio of quality Australian retail, office and industrial property assets. Not just meeting but exceeding its tenants' requirements has been central to its growth.

"We conduct annual surveys of our tenants and obviously within that we ask them what is important to them today as well as what is important in moving forward," Briscoe says. "It's pretty elementary but this ongoing dialogue with our tenants is critical to the success of both our business and their businesses."

A home away from home

Already 40 per cent of the new building has been committed to some of the country's top blue-chip companies and Briscoe believes that is a testament to the effectiveness of that dialogue and relationship, even in the current subdued economic landscape. Its people-centric focus is one of the pillars of GPT's success. "We call it staff endorsement," he explains. "Employees are the lifeblood of any successful business and in providing for our customers' employees with social and business connectivity, we are supporting that ethos.

"We wanted to make One One One Eagle Street a home away from home for people. We have provided a retail and restaurant precinct with hotels and pubs in the area. We see that social connectivity as key to staff endorsement and therefore tenant endorsement of our building."

One One One Eagle Street was named Australia's Best Office architecture project at the Asia Pacific International Commercial Property Awards in Shanghai.