Australia’s answer to Silicon Valley is scaling up, with another five tech firms moving into the multi-million-dollar Sydney precinct designed to become a hub for innovation.
But the companies, all owned by parent company Block, will not change their work-from-home policies with the headquarters expected to provide a landing pad and meeting space for employees when they need it.
Block’s companies—Afterpay, Square, Cash App, Tidal, and TBD—announced their move into Sydney’s Tech Central precinct on Aug. 23.
They will be in an office created inside the historic Brewery Yard building in Chippendale.
The company will join other tech firms, including Atlassian, inside a 25-hectare space designed to bring together established and start-up businesses.
Afterpay executive vice-president Katrina Konstas said the company began planning its move into Tech Central in 2021 but faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia needed its own take on Silicon Valley, she said, as having easy access to potential collaborators could help to forge partnerships.
“When you’re surrounded by inspiring brands, organisations that challenge the status quo, organisations and businesses that are creating the future within their own fields ... it breeds collaborative efforts,” she told AAP.
“It will also provide an opportunity to establish a bit more of a brand of innovation for Australia as a tech-leading market.”
The New South Wales (NSW) Government announced plans for the Tech Central hub in 2020, committing $48.2 million (US$32.4 million) to its creation.
The area, which runs through six Sydney suburbs including Surry Hills and Haymarket, is within 1.5 kilometre of the CBD and close to the University of Sydney and CSIRO.
The headquarters of the hub’s anchor tenant, Atlassian, is expected to be complete by October 2026.
Block’s base, over three floors, includes 70 permanent desks, as well as informal work spaces, a large event area, and rooms for training, games and meditation.
Konstas said 80 percent of the company’s workers had visited the office in its first week of operation and she hoped it could be used for client meetings, brainstorming sessions and events.
Block’s work-from-home policies would not change to force employees into the building, however.
“If you’ve been to Silicon Valley of late, it’s quite empty,” she said.
“The whole distributed workforce, particularly in the tech sector, has made a significant impact to some of these tech hubs but we felt really passionate about providing our employees a very collaborative, dynamic workplace that has the flexibility to come in, if they like, and treat it as a hub for collaboration.”
Similar efforts to create an Australian tech hub have focused on the Melbourne inner-city suburb of Cremorne, which is home to businesses including Seek, Carsales, and MYOB.
A study of Australian tech firms by the CSIRO and Tech Council last year identified four industry “super clusters” in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Canberra.
