Westpac, Cambridge

Brief
Provide interior design and project management services for a new Westpac outlet to replace the older existing branch in Cambridge.

Design checks and balances for Westpac
Context has been working with Westpac as lead design consultant since 2006. We help the banking giants to navigate the consents process and manage complex nationwide rollouts across its 197 retail sites nationwide.

We have been leading Westpac’s current localisation project to provide a consistent, innovative, client-rich experience where branches reflect the values of their local communities through design. We continue to enable a shift away from old style ‘barrier’ retail banking to more informal, open, and technology-enabled environments.

Our latest project opened recently on Lake Street, Cambridge, replacing the existing branch located nearby. Housed within a relatively new development, the branch has a larger footprint and offers on-site parking.

The lobby has 24/7 banking, with ATMs leading to an open-plan area where there is an informal space allowing interaction between staff and customers. The overall design is understated and includes premium hardwearing carpets, dark wood ceilings with sympathetic lighting, plant boxes, draping foliage, glass floor-to-ceiling meeting rooms and comfortable armchairs.

Context’s Westpac Account Manager Emma Gordon said, “We worked closely with Westpac, as well as the landlord and main contractor to make the branch as welcoming and accessible to customers as possible. It’s always a careful balance with retail banking design to ensure that customer experience, security and health and safety requirements are all met.”