There’s a reason law firms occupy the top floors of city buildings. It’s not because lawyers enjoy lifts. It’s because the physical environment you choose for your work communicates something about the standard you hold yourself to.
This isn’t about vanity. It’s about signal.
The spaces we choose
Think about every workspace you’ve ever had. The university dorm desk where you pulled all-nighters. The cramped startup office that smelled like pizza and ambition. The corporate cubicle with the grey partition walls. The kitchen table during lockdown.
Each of those spaces shaped how you worked. They set a baseline for what felt normal — and that baseline influenced your energy, your output, and your expectations of yourself.
When you upgrade your workspace, something shifts. Not just logistically, but psychologically. You start to operate at the level of the environment. It’s the same reason athletes perform differently in a stadium versus a car park. The setting raises the stakes.
What clients see
If you’re a freelance developer or a small design studio, your workspace is often invisible to clients — everything happens over video calls and email. But when a client does visit, the environment matters.
A meeting room with a view of the Parliamentary Triangle tells a different story than a café table near the counter. It doesn’t make you better at your job, but it removes a barrier. The client doesn’t have to imagine that you’re professional — they can see it.
For government clients in particular, where credibility and reliability are everything, a CBD business address and a proper meeting space aren’t luxuries. They’re competitive advantages.
What your team sees
If you’re building a small team, the workspace is part of the offer. In a market where talent has options — especially in tech and design — the quality of the work environment matters. Not in a ping-pong-table-and-bean-bags way, but in a fundamental way.
Natural light. Good coffee. A view. Meeting rooms that work. A space that respects the work being done. These things signal to your team that you take the business seriously and that you value their experience of being part of it.
What you see
This might be the most important part. The workspace you choose is a daily reminder of the kind of business you’re building. When you sit down at a desk on Level 9 and look out over Canberra — the lake, the mountains, the parliamentary axis stretching toward Capital Hill — it recalibrates something.
You’re not tinkering on a side project anymore. You’re running a business from the top floor of a heritage building in the national capital. The view isn’t just a perk. It’s a frame of reference.
The Canberra perspective
Canberra is a city that’s easy to underestimate. It’s quiet. It’s organised. It doesn’t have the chaotic energy of Sydney or Melbourne. But that underestimation is an opportunity for people who see what the city actually offers.
A stable economy. A highly educated workforce. A manageable scale where professional networks are tight and opportunities are accessible. Government demand that isn’t going anywhere. And a quality of life that lets you do your best work without burning out.
Level 9 of 161 London Circuit puts you at the centre of all of that. The view from your desk is a panorama of the city’s institutions, its landscape, and its potential — from the Parliamentary Triangle to Mt Ainslie and the Brindabellas beyond. It’s a workspace that matches the ambition of the people in it.
Choose the view
Every workspace decision is ultimately a decision about identity. The kitchen table says “I’m getting by.” The generic serviced office says “I’m playing it safe.” A space with a view, a community, and a sense of place says something different.
It says you’re here to build something that matters. And you’ve chosen an environment that reflects it.
The view from Level 9 is waiting. The question is whether you’re ready to match it.