Studio 276
Choose your own adventure
Fivex engaged us to brand a new five-level commercial workspace at 276 Flinders Street, an extension to an existing CBD building, accessed via an elevated skybridge, in the cultural heart of Melbourne. The brief was clear: edgy, non-traditional, and nothing like the corporate leasing category. They wanted to attract start-ups, creative industries, and younger businesses who’d see the location as a reason to move in, not a reason to look elsewhere.
The Flinders Street precinct is gritty, laneway-dense, and buzzing, not where the suit-and-tie set go looking for office space. That was the insight. The audience wasn’t the corporate mainstream; it was the trend-starters and early adopters for whom the precinct’s energy was exactly the point.
The insight
The Flinders Street precinct wasn't the obvious home for commercial workspace but that was the insight. The grit, the culture, the energy: these weren't things to work around. They were the brief. The audience wasn't the corporate mainstream; it was the trend-starters, early adopters, and idea generators who would see the location as a signal, not a compromise.
The idea
Studio 276. A name rooted in the street address but reframed through a creative lens - edgier, younger, and deliberately non-corporate. The brand made location its hero, bringing the Flinders Street precinct to life through vibrant illustration and a tone of voice as irreverent as the building itself.
The creative
We commissioned Melbourne-based illustrator Ellen Porteus to create a three-dimensional illustrated map of the precinct, a bold, energetic centrepiece that became the visual heart of the campaign. Paired with punchy, character-driven copy and a logo drawn from the building's own modular architecture, the result was a brand that didn't just describe a workspace, it made a statement about who belonged there.
The recognition
Studio 276 received two Silvers at the 2020 Transform Awards ANZ for Best Use of a Visual Property and Best Place or Nation Brand, making it one of a small number of Theola projects to take multiple results at the international level in a single year. The Best Design Awards NZ also selected the work as a Finalist.