Taking care of business

The words ‘office park’ tend to conjure a specific mental image. Cramped cubicles and drab decor, bad coffee, and miserable workers. It’s a stereotype captured with cringe-worthy precision by the TV show The Office, with its hilarious portrayal of the fictional Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company. Thankfully, The Office is a far cry from the experience of workers at Rhodes Corporate Park(RCP) in Sydney’s north-west, a commercial precinct owned and managed by Frasers Property Australia. Set in leafy, landscaped grounds with state-of-the-art employee facilities including swimming pool, gymnasium, end-of-trip facilities, car-sharing services, restaurants and cafes, and a monthly calendar of events that emphasise social connection and entertainment, RCP’s focus is squarely on the health and wellbeing of the people who work there. Evangeline Browne is Frasers Property’s Asset Manager for RCP. She believes that what sets the Rhodes office park apart is that the company’s Commercial division adheres to the same determination to foster community that governs Frasers Property’s approach to residential development. “We often talk about the role of neighbourhoods and the importance of good neighbors,” says Evangeline. “It’s natural to think of that in terms of where you live, but the business neighbourhood is also a huge part of many people’s lives. “A place like Rhodes Corporate Park brings a lot of people together in bursts of productive activity throughout the week, so you want to make sure that it’s a place that people are excited to come to and that it supports a range of their needs, not just work.”

Even before businesses were contemplating the workplace of the future and the post-pandemic return to the office, the Frasers Property Commercial team were busy reimagining a bold new standard for the office park. This has included a range of new technologies and conveniences, including touchless lifts, app-based parking, two new car-share Teslas for tenant use, childcare, a carwash service, and a concierge-style tenant app that allows you book everything from a gym class to a meeting space in the colourful RCP shipping container on the village green. In the heart of the park, the new Maestria restaurant by prolific Sydney-based restaurateur Bailey Wang, offers sophisticated dining and a place to convene after-hours for a drink with colleagues. The Maestria Cafe, also by Wang, has fast become a mid-morning staple for RCP’s coffee junkies and lovers of toasted sammies. And as if every convenience at your fingertips wasn’t enough, there are monthly social mixers and events for tenants that are guaranteed to get them up from their desks and out into the sunshine.

Kate Wiliams is HR Manager for Bose, and a tenant of Rhodes Corporate Park. She points to the full array of lifestyle benefits, including free gym and pool access, nutritious food, and an abundance of open space to get outside and enjoy as built-in employee benefits that ultimately help with talent acquisition and retention. “It’s a fantastic balance of the best of work and non-work worlds, and I think that provides an experience for our team that makes it worthwhile coming into the office,” says Kate. “They expect us to provide them with a state-of-the-art workplace and social experiences. And that’s what they get here. ”Heath Edwards, Senior Head of Strategic Accounts for Puma agrees. “It does make that element of coming into work a bit more of a reason to get out of bed,” says Heath. “We can interact together as a team and make it a space to really be enjoyed. What the Frasers team really bring to the party is that they provide facilities that you wouldn’t get at home. ”According to Evangeline Browne, the focus on curating a healthy and stimulating work environment at RCP has had a huge impact on worker happiness and productivity. “The number one best bit of feedback we receive from tenants is when they tell us: ‘This workplace has done wonders for our culture. We are a completely different business. We are in tune. Our employees want to come to work.’ Having a positive impact on a business’s culture like that...what more can you possibly ask for. That is the ultimate success for us.