BMD’s new headquarter in Wynnum community

BMD’s new headquarter in South East Queensland’s Bayside suburb of Wynnum has been revealed, showcasing a vibrant and connected space that supports both the community and the BMD team.

The result is a vibrant home and future for BMD HQ, that actively connects with, and supports the local area, providing a central location where both the community and the BMD team can redefine themselves and thrive.

Bringing this vision to life, the team delved into and reviewed BMD’s current business needs, whilst also providing visioning for future flexibility, considering what workplaces might require and how this will work, and allowance for their predicted business growth.

The ground floor will expand onto and connect with the prominent ‘Bay Terrace’ (Wynnum’s High Street) to deliver the mixed-use concept of the design, with a dedicated retail space including offerings such as cafes, boutiques and end of trip facilities; the five floors above will be used as BMD offices.

The design has a strong sense of place and context, ensuring that the design connects to both Country and place of region, whilst paying homage to the history of the site. i2C Architects Senior Associate, Katie Rankine said the design draws inspiration from the beautiful natural context and ecological connections along the Wynnum foreshore and Moreton Bay.

“The site has the most amazing visual connections to Moreton Bay and its islands. It was imperative to infiltrate and open these into the BMD office levels. The changing colours and vistas of this stunning area will consistently be an extension to the office and its occupants.”

“Prior to being settled, Wynnum was traditionally known as Winnam (the original name for the pandanus fruit), which we respectfully reference through the pandanus tree and beach, and the Wynnum mangrove boardwalk. Through infiltrated battens and perforated materials, we will allow the abundant natural light to filter through into the spaces, changing the light and experience throughout the day to provide protection from the sun, whilst also ensuring the flora and fauna of the region are extended inwards and outwards to connect users to the beautiful location. The colour and material palette reflects the natural earthy tones of the region to really ground it to place,” said Katie.

i2C’s vision was to explore the volumetric geometrics of the existing Wynnum Baptist Church onsite, which is being relocated to Lona College, and how it proportionally integrates and features on the prominent Bay Terrace streetscape. “The design itself doesn’t focus so much on the look and feel of the outside of the church, but more so the volumetric experience of the church space internally – visitors can walk in and look up and feel the spaciousness and the calmness,” said Katie.

Acknowledging the Quandamooka People and the Traditional Custodians of the land, BMD’s new headquarters has an internal Indigenous Leader representative and plans to engage a Quandamooka consultant to assist in further design elements and their connections to land, sea and community.

i2C will also develop the interior design concept for BMD’s new headquarters to ensure the fitout responds to the architecture and broader vision, to create a dynamic workplace that promotes connection and collaboration for their team.

BMD CEO Scott Power said it was important for the family-owned business to return to its Bayside roots, where BMD was founded over 40 years ago.

“We chose the Wynnum community for our headquarters as we have a lot of history in the area and are excited for its future growth and opportunities.

We look forward to continuing supporting and investing in the community, building on our long-term relationship and establishing new connections,” said Scott. Construction of the BMD HQ office will commence in late 2022.

Project Leader: Katie Rankine, Rod Rose

i2C Team: Magdalena Uscinowicz, Peter Choi, Martin Hammond, Claire Bowles

Client: BMD Group

Images: i2C Architects