Beyond your apartment walls: Lendlease’s approach to placemaking and community planning
At Lendlease, we integrate community-focused and human-centric placemaking strategies into all of our projects, creating spaces where residents not only live but truly thrive. This is integral to shaping vibrant, connected communities. Ready to discover more about your new home? Read on.
Creating great places involves designing environments that go beyond aesthetics to foster community connections and enhance the quality of life for residents. Monique De Cseuz, Director of Retail and Place at Lendlease, says: “It’s not all about the building architecture. Placemaking involves creating vibrant, engaging spaces through public realm design, retail, hospitality and programming, such as cultural events and workshops.”
An intentional focus on creating place initiatives ensures that our developments are not just places to live but communities where people feel a deep sense of belonging.
Interestingly, community and place experience may also contribute to increased property values. Research finds that property values tend to rise in areas where initiatives such as attractive public spaces and pedestrian-friendly environments are implemented. This increase is attributed to the enhanced attractiveness and functionality of the area, which in turn encourages investment and development.
The claim is supported globally. Research conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that good placemaking can lead to a value increase from 5 to 56 per cent.
Similarly, the International Economic Development Council’s research also supports the idea that placemaking can boost local retail sales by creating vibrant, well-used public spaces that attract more foot traffic and customer engagement.
We’ve undertaken several groundbreaking projects that showcase our expertise in creating great places designed with people in mind. A prime example is the One Sydney Harbour development. Located only moments from the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, One Sydney Harbour is located within the city’s vibrant precinct, Barangaroo.
Monique highlights the project’s success: “There’s been a lot of focus on One Sydney Harbour over the design excellence and attention to detail,” she says. “We’ve engaged the best specialist designers and consultants to seamlessly integrate placemaking elements within the base build architecture.
“Design from a placemaking perspective on this project has influenced the shopfronts and signage, the selection of umbrellas, external seating and landscaping overlays. We are working very closely now with our retail and hospitality tenants to ensure we deliver the very best fit-outs.
“The adjacent Hickson Park will soon be enhanced with comfortable seating and stylish accessories, including folding chairs, floor cushions, and rugs. The park will also feature unique artwork by First Nations artist Tiarna Herczeg, whose designs will add a touch of local artistry and authenticity to the space. These additions will not only make the park more visually appealing but also encourage community engagement and create a welcoming atmosphere for all.
Mermer Waiskeder: Stories of the Moving Tide (pictured above) is a large-scale hand-crafted public artwork by Ghost Net Collective at Barangaroo South. Made from ghost nets, it features 11 eagle rays, symbolising marine conservation and community connections across Australia's coastline. The Ghost Net Collective is a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists from Cairns, Townsville and Erub in the Torres Strait.
“Contribution to art overall in Barangaroo will approach the $40-million mark once completed,” Monique says.
Another example is the unique dual-waterfront Collins Wharf in Melbourne, which emphasises the integration of public spaces into the urban landscape. Collins Wharf offers a vibrant, sustainable community with a strong sense of history. The iconic development integrates waterfront living with green spaces, incorporating native vegetation and preserving maritime and First Nations heritage. This urban experience blends Melbourne’s rich history with modern, sustainable living.
A key component of our approach to creating beautiful living environments is the integration of a well-curated retail mix. “Retail is a big contributor to placemaking,” Monique says. “It provides a lively, vibrant ground plane and significantly influences the overall experience of the precinct.”
By selecting and curating retail and hospitality options carefully, we ensure that the amenities meet high standards and enhance the living experience for residents.
Monique says, “We work with specialist teams to deliver the very best hospitality offerings. Each tenant is carefully selected, and we collaborate with designers to ensure their own fit-out designs respond to our brief.”
Effective community curation involves aligning placemaking efforts with the current and future needs and culture of the local community. We conduct thorough research to achieve this.
“At the commencement of every project, we undertake a lot of research to develop a deep understanding of the community and our customers’ needs through both quantitative and qualitative methods,” Monique explains.
This research includes demographic studies and community interviews, ensuring that each project is tailored to its unique context and market.
“We also look to understand how a precinct sits contextually so that what we do still meets the community’s needs but isn’t currently on offer,” she says. “It’s about ensuring that not only do the precincts that we deliver meet the needs of our community and customer, but they’re actually differentiated, and we’re not simply replicating what might be there already.
“Future trends are considered too because community needs can evolve over time,” Monique adds. This strategic approach ensures that Lendlease’s developments are both relevant and forward-thinking.
Measuring the success of these key initiatives is integral to our approach.
“We use various tools to measure success, including community feedback and the usage of public spaces,” Monique says.
The positive response from residents and the successful integration of placemaking features demonstrate our success.
Reflecting on the impact, Monique says, “It’s rewarding to see people embrace a new place when it opens. Seeing the community respond positively to our developments is incredibly satisfying.”
Looking ahead, Monique predicts that placemaking will continue to evolve in response to the luxury residential sector’s changing expectations and requirements.
We are actively working to meet these expectations by exploring new partnership models with the right retailers and staying at the cutting edge of design and hospitality trends.
“The very best retail mix and amenity are critical to delivering exceptional outcomes,” Monique adds.
To explore our innovative projects, visit Lendlease Apartments.