A Workplace that Works: COX’s Adelaide Studio
What if your workplace made you feel more connected, more productive, more inspired? What if it didn’t just support your work—but elevated it?
That was the ambition behind the Adelaide Studio’s move to 57 Wyatt Street. More than a new address, this studio was designed to embody the way we think, collaborate, and create. Now, following our post-occupancy evaluation, we’ve been able to measure what we long believed: this is a workplace that works.
Designed for Connection, Built for Culture
At COX, we know great design starts with people. Our 57 Wyatt Street studio was intentionally crafted to bring us together—formally and informally, in the forum or over coffee. The results speak volumes: 85% of our team feel connected to their colleagues – reflecting the studio’s open, social, and collaborative spirit.
Trauma-Informed Design Principles
A core aspect of our design approach involved operationalisation of our Trauma-Informed Design Framework. This allowed us to evaluate the framework within a workplace setting.
- 89% say the studio feels normal, familiar and ‘like home’
- 89% say the studio is a place to engage with community and collaborators
- 89% say the studio provides varying degrees of privacy
The studio ticks all the boxes in terms of TiD principles, including providing a safe environment, supporting nervous system regulation, mediating social connectedness and implying worthiness of dignity and beauty.
Dr Jacqueline Baker, Head of Research
Consciously designing the workplace through a trauma-informed lens has significantly impacted perceptions of safety, trust and empowerment, leading to positive impacts on wellbeing and productivity.
Where Productivity and Wellbeing Go Hand in Hand
A high-performing workplace should never come at the cost of wellbeing. Here, it doesn’t.
- 95% say they feel productive,
- 95% enjoy natural light and views that support focus, clarity, and calm.
From acoustic performance to ergonomic zones and biophilic touches, every detail was considered to help people thrive.
A Platform for Practice
Design excellence doesn’t just happen behind closed doors—it’s shared, tested, and refined in spaces that foster collaboration.
- 95% rate the studio highly for events and internal meetings,
- 89% say it supports the shift between home and in-studio work.
From hosting clients to collaborating with the broader design community, our people view it as a space that performs across every scale.
COX Director, Zoe King
This is a workplace that proves design has the power to improve how we feel, how we work, and how we come together.
Future-Focused
What does the workplace of tomorrow look like? We asked that question from day one—and designed accordingly. The feedback confirms it:
- 94% say it fosters design excellence
- 89% say it inspires innovation
- 89% say it reflects the “future of workplace”
With flexible configurations, sustainable materials, and digital integration, the studio is agile, conscious, and built for flexibility into the future.