From landlord to trusted sustainability partner: redesigning the workplace tenant experience
- 12 Mar 2025
We’re redefining workplace sustainability, going beyond industry benchmarks to create human-centric, future-proofed places that align with our tenants’ evolving needs. In this Q&A, our Head of Leasing & Asset Management, Workplace, Charlotte Stratton, and General Manager, Sustainability, Development & Construction, James Wewer, explore how our sustainability framework, forward-thinking approach and partnership mindset are shaping the next generation of workplaces.
How do Lendlease’s sustainability framework, aspirations and targets push its Workplace developments beyond traditional green building standards?
James: Our sustainability framework and targets fundamentally shape our approach to Workplace. And 2025 is a milestone year for us: we are on track to meet our first Mission Zero target of Net Zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as our target to create $250 million of social value. The breadth and ambition of sustainability at Lendlease means we’re always thinking holistically across connecting with country, social impact and environmental sustainability, and aren’t blinkered to any opportunities. For example, our Mission Zero targets compelled us to design and deliver all-electric buildings ahead of the broader industry trend.
Our journey to Absolute Zero also tackles Scope 3 emissions across our value chain without relying on offsets, including emissions from the use of electricity and natural gas by tenants. We see our role as not only reducing our own emissions but also helping facilitate our tenants' transition to Net Zero.
Charlotte: One of the key strengths of our sustainability framework is the deep engagement it fosters with tenants. Many are already prioritising environmental sustainability and social impact, and they see us as true partners in amplifying their efforts. This collaboration is essential in shaping the future of our workplaces, particularly in creating lasting social value. Our tenants are often on leases of 7-10 years, so partnering on the journey and asking what we can do together leads to much better outcomes. The impact we can achieve together with our tenants far exceeds what we could accomplish alone. It’s also more fun!
A great example of this amplification is our partnership with Two Good Co., a social enterprise that supports women with lived experience of domestic violence and homelessness. At Vic X Tower, this partnership is expanding in response to strong tenant interest and alignment with their own social goals. Two Good Co. will operate our lobby café, in-house catering and concierge services, embedding social impact into the fabric of the precinct.
What key tenant demands and expectations are shaping workplace design, and how is Lendlease responding to these evolving needs?
Charlotte: One of the biggest shifts we’re experiencing is that tenants are looking at workplaces more holistically. Everything is important to them: sustainability, wellbeing, flexibility and employee experience. With the return-to-office movement gaining momentum, workplace design must ensure there are no roadblocks to employees wanting to come back. Tenants are also increasingly looking for precinct-wide benefits that contribute to their employee value proposition, and they see us as partners in shaping work environments that attract and retain talent.
James: Some of the emerging tenant priorities include circularity in both fitout materials and base building, social value outcomes, health and wellbeing, access to green spaces and climate resilience. There’s also a greater focus on the end-user, ensuring workplaces empower people to be their best, so they can bring their best. More broadly, tenants are prioritising values alignment at both a corporate and employee level, selecting partners that share their sustainability commitments and workforce’s values-based drivers.
How does Lendlease collaborate with tenants to deliver purpose-built workplaces that help them meet their sustainability goals?
James: I’ll describe our approach by borrowing a phrase from our colleague Alison Webb, Head of Customer Strategy, Lendlease Investment Management, which is that we ‘set the stage’ and then ‘curate the play’. We ‘set the stage’ by selecting prime locations with good connectivity, including access to sustainable transport options, and layering in amenity. We design our base buildings with strong sustainability credentials while offering the flexibility to tailor certain building attributes based on tenant demands. And we then ‘curate the play’ through precinct and building activations with our tenants throughout the duration of their leases. Designing in flexibility and adaptability, for example, through the ability to update energy systems as technology advances, has contributed to tenants staying in the same building years down the track.
Charlotte: The shift from transactional, ‘us and them’ relationships to a long-term partnership model is key. We aim to be a trusted sustainability partner, not a landlord. Many leading organisations are embedding sustainability into their real estate strategies, but there’s a wide spectrum in terms of sophistication levels and strategic ambitions. That makes being able to demonstrate the tangible benefits of sustainable workplaces so important, so that tenants, wherever they are on their sustainability journey, know what to expect. Additional services like our Eco-Concierge, which offers tailored sustainability support to tenants based on their individual needs, is another way we can help tenants navigate their options.
Beyond environmental sustainability, how does Lendlease design workplaces that enhance human wellbeing and productivity?
James: There’s a growing body of evidence that well-designed workplaces contribute to employee health and performance. We integrate natural elements, optimise daylight, ensure high indoor air quality and provide access to green spaces. A great example is Melbourne Quarter’s Sky Park, designed over a decade ago, well before COVID-19 reminded us of the importance of greenery in urban settings. Because nature and biodiversity have been embedded in our sustainability framework from the outset, we were able to take a forward-thinking approach, ensuring that green spaces were integrated as a core part of the precinct’s design rather than an afterthought. Nature-inspired design, with its many social and environmental benefits, continues to shape our workplaces today.
Charlotte: We also look beyond the building’s features to deliver activated precincts that support our tenants’ whole-day experience, not just their time at their desks. Vic X Tower, for example, will feature a four-level wellness hub by One Playground. In addition to 200-plus weekly classes, it will offer free wellness sessions, nutrition guidance and tailored fitness challenges to tenants.
Looking to the future, how is Lendlease ensuring its workplaces remain relevant and fit for purpose?
James: Climate resilience is becoming a bigger priority. We’re creating all-electric, operationally efficient buildings while reducing embodied carbon through smart design and material selection. This includes reducing cantilevers and transfers, which require large amounts of steel, and minimising concrete-intensive basement construction where possible. As embodied carbon attracts more scrutiny, particularly with the release of the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Embodied Carbon rating tool, our own emissions reduction targets and heightened industry standards will keep pushing us forward.
Because of our sustainability leadership and foresight, deep industry partnerships and supply chain visibility, we’re at the forefront of these advancements. This helps future-proof our buildings and, in turn, supports our tenants in staying ahead of the sustainability curve.
Charlotte: The workplaces of the future must be designed for long-term adaptability. Tenants are no longer just looking for a space to occupy, they are looking for a workplace that evolves with them. That means not only delivering best-in-class buildings but ensuring they remain relevant and add value over the long term, by responding to changing tenant needs and employee expectations.
With a growing sustainability and ESG reporting burden, we’re also committed to meeting our tenants’ specific needs in this space. The ability to provide meaningful data on energy efficiency, emissions reductions and workplace performance is becoming an expectation, not a nice-to-have – but it must be tailored to the tenant. Through ongoing collaboration and a healthy exchange of ideas and information, we’ll be able to ensure our tenants enjoy attractive, productive and high-performing workplaces that are not just sustainable today but remain fit for purpose well into the future.