{"id":2988,"date":"2019-06-07T08:48:06","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T08:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=2988"},"modified":"2019-06-07T08:48:06","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T08:48:06","slug":"union-welcomes-layout-of-citys-new-admin-hq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/06\/07\/union-welcomes-layout-of-citys-new-admin-hq\/","title":{"rendered":"Union welcomes layout of City\u2019s new admin HQ"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"inner-head\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"inner-desc\">United Services Union\u00a0Organiser\u00a0Luke Hutchinson\u00a0has hailed office floorplans finalised by City of Newcastle to meet the city\u2019s increasingly diverse needs from its future administrative base.<br \/>\nSpace\u00a0for all\u00a0admin staff and\u00a0ample meeting rooms will feature in levels 2-5 in the new West End office block, with additional training rooms slated for the sixth floor and a temporary customer service centre set to swing into operation in October.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" title=\"12-Stewart-footpath1-(1).jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/getattachment\/Council\/News\/Latest-News\/Union-welcomes-layout-of-City%E2%80%99s-new-admin-HQ\/12-Stewart-footpath1-(1).jpg.aspx\" alt=\"12-Stewart-footpath1-(1).jpg\" \/><br \/>\n\u201cWe welcome a number of features included in the finalised floorplans,\u201d Mr Hutchinson said.<br \/>\n\u201cThese include increased space for collaboration, sit\/stand workstations for all workers, informal chat areas to increase interaction between staff, and adequate space for internal and external meetings, which has long been identified by our members as problem.<br \/>\n\u201cThe\u00a0union strongly welcomes big improvements to dedicated staff training spaces at the new headquarters.\u201d<br \/>\nMr Hutchinson said the move would improve workplace conditions and overall staff wellbeing after a strong engagement process.<br \/>\n\u201cFollowing consultation with our members, and representations made to the Lord Mayor, the USU was able\u00a0to\u00a0engage directly with CEO Jeremy Bath to work through some of the concerns and issues raised staff,\u201d he\u00a0said.<br \/>\n\u201cWe\u2019re pleased to say that this was a really positive engagement and that several improvements have been made, including a USU Delegate\u2019s appointment to the City\u2019s internal consultative group.<br \/>\n\u201cThe USU will continue to work both proactively and collaboratively with City of Newcastle management and Lord Mayor Nelmes to ensure our members\u2019 best interests are at the forefront of the move westward over the coming months.\u201d<br \/>\nThe 12 Stewart Avenue premises will accommodate\u00a0all of the City\u2019s 425\u00a0administrators, offering\u00a0capacity for growth,\u00a0and\u00a0provide meeting-room flexibility previously unavailable in the City Administration Centre, City Hall and Fred Ash buildings.<br \/>\nLevels 2-5\u00a0have an\u00a0identical layout,\u00a0except for\u00a0one\u00a0corner\u00a0tailored\u00a0to support\u00a0individual\u00a0service units,\u00a0and each comprises a\u00a028-person meeting room\u00a0that\u00a0can also be expanded into\u00a0a\u00a0larger\u00a0training\u00a0facility.<br \/>\nEach floor from 2-5 will provide staff with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>80 ergonomic electric sit\/stand work points with privacy screens, dual monitors, keyboard, mouse and task chair<\/li>\n<li>Three booths that each seat five people<\/li>\n<li>An agile collaboration space with screen and whiteboard and informal chat area<\/li>\n<li>Large breakout collaboration space with kitchenette, storage and informal seating for 12<\/li>\n<li>Large team workshop space to accommodate 12 staff or large-team meetings and stand-ups for 30-plus people<\/li>\n<li>Around 150 lockers for staff to store their caddy and personal items<\/li>\n<li>Five 1-2 seat quiet spaces for focused task work and discussions<\/li>\n<li>Utility area housing printers, bins and stationery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath said fit-out work would begin mid-June on the new offices that would conservatively benefit rate payers to the tune of $13.1 million over the next 25 years.<br \/>\n\u201cInstead of three buildings and 13 floors in the Civic Precinct, all our administrative staff will be housed under one roof in the city\u2019s new CBD, offering them several ideal places to meet with our myriad stakeholders,\u201d Mr Bath said.\u00a0\u201cThis will improve communication and decision making, which will in turn lead to better services for the community.<br \/>\n\u201cThis move is about increasing productivity and the capacity of staff\u00a0through greater flexibility\u00a0to provide even better services from modern offices.\u00a0Twelve Stewart Avenue will also offer employees booths, quiet sections and team spaces to select in order to work better together and with hundreds of community members who are also integral to the city\u2019s continued growth and success.<br \/>\n&#8220;Our new base\u00a0utilises\u00a0the best of modern design principles to improve our workplace culture and also offers easier access for people with mobility challenges\u00a0just a stone\u2019s throw from the Newcastle Interchange.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United Services Union\u00a0Organiser\u00a0Luke Hutchinson\u00a0has hailed office floorplans finalised by City of Newcastle to meet the city\u2019s increasingly diverse needs from its future administrative base. Space\u00a0for all\u00a0admin staff and\u00a0ample meeting rooms will feature in levels 2-5 in the new West End office block, with additional training rooms slated for the sixth floor and a temporary customer &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/06\/07\/union-welcomes-layout-of-citys-new-admin-hq\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Union welcomes layout of City\u2019s new admin HQ&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}