Creating Community Identity In A Vertical Village
At the start of September, our Co-Founders Claire O’Rourke and Riye Arai-Coupe were invited to speak at the Springfield City Group’s Corporate Day. Springfield City Group is the master developer behind Greater Springfield, which has become home to 27,000 residents. Claire and Riye spoke on the importance of community and placemaking, as Springfield progress their offering into medium and high-density projects.
Claire and Riye emphasised the unique opportunity developers have to improve the quality of people’s lives through creating socially sustainable and connected communities. But to do this, they need to embrace the FOUR FUNDAMENTAL INGREDIENTS OF PLACEMAKING:
People – Activity & movement on streets, buildings, and public spaces
Invitation – Attractive designs that invite people to enter
Public realm – Spaces for people to stop, rest, relax, enjoy and meet
Identity – Uniqueness and significance of place; a sense of connection
‘The Four Fundamental Pillars of Placemaking’
Claire noted “Genuine placemaking should be about creating a point of difference in the market, as well as bringing real value to the quality of life of both the community and residents.”
To create thriving vertical villages, at the start of every project, Bluebird will ask the design team:
What does urban living look like? How can we improve everyone’s standard of living?
Design to create real value for improved quality of life.
What can we do differently to other apartment buildings?
Be visionary.
What do residents want and need? What is missing from the current market offering?
Dig deep to understand your customer.
How can we improve their health and wellbeing? How do we create social and cultural benefits? What is our enduring legacy?
Create enduring positive impacts.
Developers should deliver on their customers’ needs and create buildings with purpose, connection and value. They should be bold and think outside the square because the market is savvy and demands new approaches and solutions.
Riye emphasised “We always urge our clients to think about placemaking as creating two types of value. It is the creation of value through improving the lives of the residents, and there is value creation for the bottom line. Both tenants and purchasers are willing to value amenities that have been designed with connection and quality in mind”.
Our final recommendation to the incredible team at Springfield was to continue being bold and visionary in their approach. And always think outside the square to create spaces that encourage people to come together.
Bluebird Property is a residential development management and advisory company, based in Brisbane. We provide a dedicated and personalised service to developers and landowners who may not have the time, expertise or resources to oversee their projects.
We have extensive experience, networks and the resources to manage all or any part of the development process.
We are your ‘one stop shop’.