Outfit office in Brisbane’s historic Barracks building gets a thoughtful fitout with Resene Nocturnal and Resene Crowshead

19 Jul 2021

The Barracks site at 61 Petrie Terrace in Brisbane has had a colourful history. First used in 1860 as a jail that housed 96 prisoners, the building has held many different purposes in its 161-year lifetime. It was a police stable in 1863, a barracks in 1939 and a radio communications centre in 1941. Its latest incarnation as an office and shopping complex pays homage to its eventful history while rising to meet today's needs.

The third storey of the heritage-listed brick building is now home to digital brand management company Outfit, featuring a bright new fitout coloured with Resene paints and wood stains by interior designer Charlotte Russell of MacArthur & Co. Charlotte says she and her team jumped at the chance to work on the project.

“We readily accepted the opportunity to design a youthful, fresh, creative and motivating office space, reflecting the company’s ethos while staying within the conditions of the Barrack’s heritage listing,” says Charlotte.

The heritage listing meant there were some rules and restrictions about building additions. For example, a unique heritage colour of white paint had to be used to complement the colours of the brickwork, and the design could only use minimal fixings to the timber flooring and external walls. To avoid building structures into the wall, Charlotte created self-supporting meeting room booths using OSB engineered panels. The exterior of each booth is painted in Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Nocturnal while their interiors were kept ‘natural’, exposing the inside of the OSB panels that are coated in Resene Aquaclear for added protection.

“The custom-designed sound-proof sales and meeting booths led to an opportunity to showcase the versatility of OSB board on the internal walls of these booths. The application of Resene Aquaclear waterborne urethane varnish created an interesting visually textural effect which kept the booths light and bright, cast an ambient light and also complemented the existing heritage timber floors. Resene Lumbersider in Resene Nocturnal complemented the existing paintwork colour scheme and was the perfect background colour for the hand-painted mural on the external back wall of the booths.”

Charlotte used OSB panels to create other partitions and whiteboard meeting areas. She stained the OSB panels using Resene Colorwood Crowshead to give the space depth and textural impact. “Resene Colorwood Crowshead created visual interest on the walls while also complementing the surrounding brickwork tones and existing paint colour scheme,” she explains. 

Planter boxes painted using Resene Nocturnal create more office zones and are an excellent contrasting colour to the lush green plants. Additional timber partitions were protected with Resene Aquaclear.

The reception area also features a bold mural painted by Brisbane artist Kat Smirnoff of Kat’s Murals. The mural was created with custom Resene colours matched to Outfit’s branding (but for similar colours, try Resene Nocturnal, Resene Bondi Blue, Resene Sunshade and Resene Pursuit).

Charlotte loved the challenge of the Barracks building fitout and is now working on a project in Papua New Guinea as well as some residential developments in Brisbane, including a 1960s inspired new-build overlooking the water on the north side of Brisbane. She hopes to try out some bold Resene colours in her upcoming work.

As for her favourite Resene colours, Charlotte says she's loving Resene New Leaf at the moment. "I used it on a front door and feature wall in a mid-century renovation. The colour was beautiful for the space and era of the house. I’m excited to be using Resene Mustard on an upcoming renovation at Chapel Hill.”

See more of Charlotte’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

OSB engineered panels were used to create meeting booths. The inside of the OSB is protected in Resene Aquaclear and the VJ panelling on the exterior of the booth is painted in Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Nocturnal. Due to the heritage building's restrictions, the wall colour is a special heritage hue, but Charlotte suggests trying Resene Half Thorndon Cream on the walls and Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream on the skirting and trims and protecting heritage timber flooring with Resene Qristal ClearFloor.

Timber clad booths in Resene Aquaclear on the inside and Resene Nocturnal on the outside allow for cosy and intimate meetings without disrupting those working at their desks. For a similar look on the walls of your project, try Resene Half Thorndon Cream and go for Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream on the ceiling, trims and skirting.

The OSB panelling in the casual meeting area is stained with Resene Colorwood Crowshead to create a textured effect which complements the heritage brickwork and timber flooring. For a similar wall colour, try Resene Half Thorndon Cream on the walls and Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream on the skirting and trims.

Charlotte’s innovative partition idea uses planter boxes to create zones for different departments within the business.  The planter box is painted in Resene Nocturnal and the timber partition framing is protected in Resene Aquaclear. On the far wall is a mural created by Kat Smirnoff in custom Resene colours that relate to the company's branding. For similar hues, look to Resene Nocturnal, Resene Bondi Blue, Resene Sunshade and Resene Pursuit.

The local Resene ColorShop helped create custom colours for the mural designed by the Kat Smirnoff to reflect Outfit's branding. For similar colours try Resene Nocturnal, Resene Bondi Blue, Resene Sunshade and Resene Pursuit. The timber feature on the reception counter is protected with Resene Aquaclear to complement the heritage timber flooring and heritage paint colour. For a similar paint colour, try Resene Half Thorndon Cream on the walls and Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream on the skirting and ceiling. 

design MacArthur & Co

build Salt Construction Co

painting Chroma Painting Services

murals Kat's Mural Art

imagesHannah Redman Images

Published: 19 Jul 2021