Ausgrid A workplace connected to country through environmental graphics.

The project needed to do far more than introduce decorative graphics into a corporate environment. From the outset, it was important that Indigenous culture be represented as an integrated and considered part of the workplace, with enough depth and care to genuinely reflect Ausgrid's values of diversity and inclusion. That created a challenge of both narrative and application. The work had to feel culturally respectful, specific to the business and strong enough to carry meaning across a large interior environment rather than sitting as a token gesture on the surface.

It also had to operate at scale. With 19 floors to address, the visual language needed to adapt across multiple zones, timelines and surface types while still feeling cohesive. The system had to support glazing graphics, locker banks, connective walls, soft furnishings and a feature mural, meaning the concept needed to remain clear and flexible from one application to the next.

The response was developed in close collaboration with Ausgrid's Indigenous Representatives and Lucy Simpson, a Yuwaalaraay, Fresh Water woman from north west NSW whose practice draws from the natural world, memory and lived experience. The concept explored lightning, the strike to earth, the spark that ignites and the growth that follows, building a visual narrative around energy, renewal and connection. In Yuwaalaraay this cycle is known as Baayangali, meaning the system in the natural world by which everything connects.

Lucy's original designs were carefully adapted into a workplace-wide graphics system that could move across different scales and materials without losing integrity. Three connective themes were distributed across the typical floors, while a bespoke combined theme was developed for the executive level. The rollout extended through boardroom and meeting room glazing, staff locker banks, connective walls and soft furnishings, with a hand-painted mural completed during NAIDOC Week on the podium level in collaboration with muralist Meg Minkley.

The final outcome gave Ausgrid a workplace graphics program that felt specific to the organisation and grounded in a clear cultural narrative, rather than relying on generic decorative references. By carrying the ideas of lightning, spark and renewal through the interior environment, the work created a stronger sense of identity across the workplace while reinforcing the company's values of diversity and inclusion. The podium mural was especially effective, transforming an otherwise unsightly mechanical bulkhead into a meaningful focal point for community events and internal gatherings.

The project was recognised with Gold in the Graphic Design - Environmental category at the 2020 Sydney Design Awards and was also a finalist in the 2020 AGDA Design Awards in the Spatial category. It stands as a strong example of how artist collaboration, spatial storytelling and environmental graphics can come together to produce a workplace outcome that feels distinctive, respectful and genuinely connected to the organisation it represents.