T2 Tea
The completed store reflects modern sustainable design at its best, showcasing natural, Australian made materials and finishes, living plants and environmentally-led elements.
Premium Australian tea brand T2 has always pursued doing things differently.
Born from a desire to be unlike anything else, to break the mould and challenge the way things are done, T2 has channelled their vision into hundreds of stores across the world.
Having worked with T2 for fifteen years and delivered more than fifty T2 stores, our team at Sandbox were this time invited to design and deliver a store that would shift perceptions and challenge sustainability in design. For their newest Bondi Junction store, T2 wanted to lead the retail industry with a 5 Star Green Star design review rating from the Green Building Council of Australia and a store that would be as beautiful as it was environmentally-conscious.
Anchored by T2’s vision to align the store with the brand vision of “Cheers to a greener future”, the brief emphasised a concept that would reduce the store’s footprint and reduce the wastage often created in the shopfitting and operating process. The sustainability-driven thinking behind the brief was only reinforced by the bushfires that tore across Australia at the beginning of 2020. The impact of these fires, and the need to place the environmental impact at the centre of design thinking, encouraged T2 to lead by example and forge forward with their concept.
CLIENT
T2 Tea
WHAT WE DID
:- Customer experience insights
:- Customer journey planning
:- Instore site zoning
:- Category planning
:- Interior retail design
:- CAD Documentation
:- Design management
:- Project management
BONDI JUNCTION STORE
5 Star Green Star
Green Building Council of Australia
AWARDS
2020 Shortlisted
- Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA)
- Sustainability Awards
Recycled glass from Betta Stone used for the counter and floor fixture tops
Through our creative process of Explore, Imagine, Engineer and Deliver, we worked closely with T2’s marketing and store development teams, as well as the Green Building Council of Australia to ensure the new store concept met its design and business expectations while complying to the stringent criteria required to achieve the 5 Star Green Star Rating.
Through the Explore phase, we recognised the customer behaviour in and around sustainability to establish how the store concept would reflect this behavior, and define how the store would build strong emotional connections and memorable experiences for the T2 brand.
Recycled timber battens from Hazlewood and Hill, the birch ply veneer on the walls from Timberwood
We then conceptualised specific store features and zones to implement a ‘Package Free Tea’ area and review the ‘Brew Bar’ area in our Imagine phase, specifying materials needed to ensure a sustainable build. These included the recycled glass from Betta Stone used for the counter and floor fixture tops, the recycled timber battens from Hazlewood and Hill, the birch ply veneer on the walls from Timberwood, and the recycled tea packaging repurposed for the light pendants handmade by Tamara Maynes.
Throughout the Engineer and Deliver phase, we continued to work closely with Green Building Council, ensuring every detail was compliant with Green Star expectations - even down to the size of the sinks and water use for the tea tasting station, and nominating materials on the demolition plan for recycling and repurposing.
Bondi Junction - T2’s first store to achieve the 5 Star Green Star Rating from the Green Building Council of Australia
The completed store reflects modern sustainable design at its best, showcasing natural, Australian made materials and finishes, living plants and environmentally-led elements that help customers, like the refilling station. It also achieved the 5 Star Green Star Rating from the Green Building Council of Australia - T2’s first store to do so.
Head of Store Design at T2 Kate Iles says the Green Star reflects the brand’s commitment to sustainability through the retail environment. “The project comes out of our desire to live and breathe our sustainability message, and that goes to supporting local business and ethical practices all through the business” Iles says. “It was an easy decision to choose the Sandbox Group to collaborate with on the project as they share our passion for sustainability and have a deep understanding of the brand design codes. We also made a conscious decision to work with talented Australian based architects in keeping with our focus on supporting local business.”
Karen Horvenga from the Green Building Council of Australia commended the team for working hard to make a comfortable and sustainable space for both staff and customers. “With a particular focus on material selections and sustainability in operation, the store is a great example of a 5 star Green Star rated retail fitout.”
It’s exciting and encouraging to see sustainable design practices and products being celebrated through this store design.
“It’s exciting and encouraging to see sustainable design practices and products being celebrated through this store design, and it is my hope that projects like this one are used to standardize the process for future builds, and to make it easier for more businesses and brands to achieve Green Star Ratings” Sandbox Group co-director Luke Cannon says, an attitude shared by co-director Richard Oakley.
“It is testament to the strength of the T2 Tea brand and their development team to forge ahead with their vision to be as ethical and environmentally sustainable as possible” Oakley says. “We have so much to be proud of in Australia, and to be at the forefront of sustainable retail design in this country is something we support 100%.”
Keen to know more about Green Star, or how to design and deliver a store with sustainability in mind?
Contact us for a chat!
Thanks to Leeda Projects, Ambience Lighting, Betta Stone,
Photography Mark Burroughs
