For 25 years, Krone has been on its Kent Street grounds, with staff spread across three floors and little connection between the clinic and its visitors. So they started looking for a new location. Krone recognized the potential of this space, originally allocated to house an indoor lap pool and fitness center. You can) was used by Ernst & Young as a mail and storage room for over a decade. It was dusty and dirty with huge compactors scattered around the floorboards.
At 850 square metres, and at 7.2 meters floor-to-ceiling, Krohn’s new studio in Sydney’s World Square is by no means small, but it’s a perfect example of a reborn architectural practice. Its enormous space and fully glazed north-facing façade are unique among architectural firms and serve as a physical analogue of the clone’s cultural transformation.
A limited equipment budget led to a very simple design solution, allowing the space to do most of the talking. From the elevator there is no foyer per se, and visitors turn a corner to reveal an exhilarating double-height light-filled space. A monochrome gray carpet complements the industrial elements, along with beautiful understated oak detailing as a visitor walks past a glass-enclosed meeting room and an architect at work to a large communal lunch at his table and a conference room to one side. Head to the vast end space. Often referred to as an “empty warehouse,” it gives you the feeling of being in a creative, collaborative space like an industrial space. The office is designed with agility and design focus. Equipment looks mostly temporary. It’s a light touch within the space that allows everyone to be evenly lit, and the space is flexible enough to allow for ever-changing practice.
