The need to project a modern, quietly professional image governed the interior design brief for law firm McCaw Lewis Chapman's new headquarters. Part of the company's ethic is the transparency of its dealings with clients, and this also needed to be accommodated in the $330,000 fitout.

One end of the building houses the litigation department, with the commercial division down the corridor at the other end. Instead of opting for the traditional closed-off tea room, designer Tim Horne chose to locate this facility alongside the passageway, so visitors and staff have to walk through it as they move about the floor. It's a friendly, cosmopolitan solution that brings an open, café-like feel to the office as well as providing a multi-purpose relaxation/work/meeting space.