Lendlease has taken top honours at this year’s Melbourne Design Awards, winning gold in the "branded experience" category for the Customer Experience Centre of their $6.1 billion Victoria Harbour project.
The 2017 Melbourne Design Awards were contested by $3.9 billion worth of design projects; the awards celebrate creative and innovative designs with a strong customer focus.
Established in Melbourne, the awards have since grown to a global scale also being held in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, Berlin and Sydney.
The marketing – branded experience – category celebrates creative and innovative design for branded experiences intended to persuade an audience to purchase or take some action upon products, ideas or services.
The award winning submission is a concept far removed from the typical "display suite" – an ode to reimagining the way we market developments. To achieve a customer experience worthy of taking out top spot Lendlease utilised a large-scale lego model and play area, a 20-screen media wall and an interactive digital scale model.
Head of Apartments for Urban Regeneration at Lendlease, Ben Christie gave further insight into the strategy behind the experience centre.
“We’re committed to understanding our customers' needs through ongoing engagement and collaboration, and this blend of technological innovation and public interaction was integral in our sales centre design.
Unlike a traditional display suite with a finished apartment prototype, the 300 square metre centre envisions the Victoria Harbour precinct in Docklands through a number of interactive and immersive installation zones.
According to Christie, the Customer Experience Centre and customer events are designed to appeal to a broad target market for apartments, delivering a high quality service that responds to customers’ needs while developing deeper and more meaningful relationships.
“The centre is a champion in innovation for Lendlease, with interactive and immersive features that challenge the current notion of a sales centre.
“Our life-size lego model has also been a very successful and creative way of engaging with children, potential buyers and the local Victoria Harbour community.
“We’ve taken a more innovative approach to marketing apartments by creating a space that caters to the full customer journey” he said.
Lendlease engaged a number of suppliers – including Techne, Lumicom, Porter Models and Arup – to design and consult on the sales centre. The centre will market and sell Lendlease’s remaining developments in Victoria Harbour.
Victoria Harbour is Lendlease’s largest Urban Regeneration project. Commencing development in 2001 and due for completion in 2025, it is the greenest precinct in the southern hemisphere, with more green-star rated buildings per square kilometre than any other community in Australia.
Victoria Harbour is currently home to around 3,000 residents and 15,000 workers. Part of Melbourne’s Docklands area, on completion (forecast date 2021) it will be home to approximately 5,000 residents and more than 25,000 workers.
