BRINGING INNER BEAUTY TO
THE FOREFRONT

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) is the global leader in prestige beauty with a diverse portfolio of brands sold around the world including Tom Ford Beauty, M·A·C Cosmetics, Jo Malone London and the Company’s namesake brand, Estée Lauder.

The vision for the new headquarters within Sydney’s CBD was that the space was a true reflection of the diverse brands, and one that paid homage to ELC’s historical lineage — and the design of the new workplace does just that. This modern, connected, and collaborative workplace located at 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, is a diamond in the rough, cloaked by the veil of a 1970s brutalist building. At the core of this 40-storey structure, on Level 23 and 24 is a workplace that embodies luxury, is rich with stories, and is a place for all brands to come together under the same roof.

Making the move from the previous Inner West workplace to the heart of the Sydney CBD represents an exciting opportunity for ELC to reengage and reinvigorate staff, enhance access to amenities and clients, and creates a central hub where staff can live and breathe the brands they represent.

The design narrative for this workplace was conceived around the concept of ‘Inner Beauty’ and this is reflected in all aspects of the design from the interior detailing, the fluid nature of the planning, the organic lines, soft tones, and the functional rigour in the design of all the key spaces. Just some of these include a vibrant front of house arrival with a spectacular backdrop of Sydney Harbour, North Head and beyond, an activated Town Hall event space where employees can hold large meetings and socialise, and collaborative spaces that are dispersed evenly across team neighbourhoods to enable staff to come together and develop new ideas.

This new workplace creates a brand immersive, visually stimulating and heightened sensory experience, with products on display forming the backdrop to the workspace and adjacent collaborative settings, which was an integral requirement of the brief.

The new Sydney office is a magnet to attract and retain talent, a joyous place to work, and has redefined the workplace strategy for the Company locally.