Achieving a customer-centric approach has become increasingly an important goal for Auckland City Council; as such, the focus on creating a “found space retail experience” has become a crucial element for their new Customer Service Centres. 

Located on Wellesley Street-based Customer Service Centre was briefed to the team at Creative Spaces as needing to be attractive, functional, and to be outlaid with little capital. Keeping the focus on the customer’s needs and away from the traditional ‘service centre’ approach leads Creative Spaces to create a clever, colorful fit-out that fascinates, entertains, and educates whilst being particularly focused on the service delivery to ratepayers and council customers.

Due to the open planned nature of the customer service centre and the breakaway areas, there tended to be a considerable amount of reverberated noise and general echo in the space, this could of lead to distractions and made conversations with customers increasingly harder. Because of this Creative Spaces wanted to source an acoustic and visual solution that worked with the general theming of the area. There was a desire to make a feature of the ‘Genius Bar Helpdesk’ for dramatic scale effect but to also naturally draw customers to this zone.

Drawn to the geometric profiles of Autex’s 3D Tile S5.53; Creative Spaces were able to create a rock-like aesthetic that links with the lighting penetrating the product. During the installation it was important to ensure the positioning of the lighting matched the design of the 3D Tiles, invoking the feeling of being inside a glow worm cavern and identifying the area as one of concentrated screen work and reference.

Using the traditional 3D Tile mounting system, the installers were able to connect the 3D Tiles to a suspended plywood substrate which allowed Creative Spaces to achieve the look and feel they were after.

Both aesthetically pleasing and functional, Auckland City Council and the team at Creative Spaces are exceptionally pleased with how the 3D Tiles have defined the space beneath and provided localised acoustic absorption.