Inside Canva’s new office where there’s six desks for every 10 and possibly fish on the roof

An artist’s impression of Canva’s new campus in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

One of the coolest things about Canva’s new 12,000 sqm Sydney campus might just be an ice bath – or two.

Failing that, the IPO hopeful is also considering breeding fish on its roof.

The Australian tech darling has big, bold and potentially ice-cold plans for its much anticipated new office, a Surry Hills location just a couple of hundred metres from its current Sydney stomping ground.

The shiny redevelopment will sit smack bang between Canva’s current headquarters and Sydney’s central station and light rail at 8 Kippax St.

The area, once Sydney’s media capital, is slowly transitioning into a tech hub, under an ambitious plan for the city to rise up and rival Silicon Valley.

Surry Hills is one of six suburbs – Haymarket, Ultimo, Redfern, Chippendale and Eveleigh being the others – that are to be transformed under the city’s bold Tech Central project.

While years away from completion, and there has been little completed development since plans were first announced, the nation’s largest tech companies are already starting to stake their ground.

Atlassian is one of them with a $1.4bn timber tower adjacent to Central station under way, being developed by Dexus. The developer was quizzed about the project when announcing its interim results last week and insisted it was on track.

Dexus came close to selling a stake in the project when office values boomed but must now await a recovery to reap the full benefits of the complex.

The site, at 8-10 Lee St on the opposite side of Central Station to Canva, is being transformed into a 75,000 sqm 40-level office tower, which will include retail amenities and accommodation.

That project won’t open until 2027, whereas Canva’s grand plans for its new HQ are due for completion in 2026.

Atlassian’s new HQ at Sydney’s Tech Central.

Canva’s new Campus, set to rise beside News Corp in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

Canva picked up its planned new building, known as Kippax on Central, for $120m in October, 2022.

Inside the redevelopment is a plan to expand on its current health offering of a gym at its existing 110 Kippax St headquarters.

At the new site the company will turn a 55-space car park into a gym and studio space for fitness, meditation and yoga classes, head of vibe Chris Low said. “We’re still nutting out the details for our wellness centre as we bring our vision to life.”

Like many in the tech industry, Canva and Canvanauts – the term it uses to describe staff – are well into the longevity and wellness space.

The company even has a budget for it under a program called Vibe & Thrive. This includes trips to local “fire and ice” facilities such as ice bath and sauna venue Rehub in Bondi Junction.

Canva head of vibe Chris Low.

“We have a range of wellbeing programs to empower our team to choose for themselves from weekly fitness and meditation classes to regular wellbeing talks,” Mr Low said.

“One of the initiatives we see working well at Canva is our 420 social and fitness clubs from Dungeons and Dragons club to tennis club to cold water immersion club.”

Much like the original building, a free lunch is still on the menu for staff but this time around the company will start to source from a green garden on its roof.

It won’t be just greens up there, however, as the company is considering breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish and aquatic plants.

“The green roof will also provide insulation to reduce heat load, foster biodiversity as a haven for birds and insects, and generate green energy. Something we’re also excited to be exploring is introducing aquaculture on the rooftop,” Mr Low said.

Those fish would be swimming near solar panels as Canva plans to build an agrivoltaic green roof – a term describing the coexistence of solar panels and plants. Those panels would help to power the building which is having its gas removed and will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

The new green roof at Canva.

Building an office space in a post-Covid world is no easy task, let alone convincing staff to commute to the office a few days per week.

To get around that, the company has gone with a new model that provides six desks for every 10 employees.

Mr Low said more than half of Canva staff were currently going into work at least once or more a week.

“While over half of our team (59 per cent) are consistently coming in one or more times a week, these numbers can fluctuate; for example when we have a large workshop or season opener,” he said.

The space will include more dedicated areas to hold events and for team collaboration, in a similar way that the company’s Bar Tropicana in Sydney holds functions and celebrations.

“I don’t have a crystal ball but for us at Canva, we’re allocating a lot more space towards hosting meaningful celebrations, team bonding, brainstorming, and goal-planning workshops, as these are the things we hear our team love about coming into our campuses,” Mr Low said.

The new headquarters will have 920 workstations and accommodate more than 1500 employees. That decision arrived from feedback from Canva staff and a twice-yearly pulse test, Mr Low said.

He said Canva was also wanted to redevelop nearby Sophia Lane, installing new pavements and a number of laneway-style eateries and bars.

“We really believe our culture isn’t limited to the four walls of a physical office space – it’s in our mission, our values and the work we do from anywhere in the world,” he said.

While Canva is in its project for the long haul, the economic value of new-style technology offices is to be shortly put to the test.

Boutique funds house IP Generation has just put Afterpay’s new Sydney headquarters on the block for about $140m. The building, The Brewery at 5 Central Park Avenue, Chippendale, is being sold via Cushman & Wakefield and JLL.

A good exit could pave the way for more high technology towers.