Barrenjoey Partners’ bankers have affectionately dubbed their new home the “Vertical Village”, as the former start-up research and advisory shop marks its transformation into a full-service investment bank by occupying three floors in Sydney’s Quay Quarter Tower on Bridge Street.

Investment banking, sales and trading and equities research populate levels 17 through 19 in an atrium-like structure, which parallels a coming-of-age tale for the young bank. Staring down the spiral staircase from the 19th floor, however, it is Barrenjoey’s new departments – fixed income, private capital and prime finance – that complete its investment bank credentials.