Project Overview

Momentous, provoking and beautiful, The Place Economy by Hoyne sets out to prove the categorical link between better placemaking and significantly higher profits via a collection of case studies, interviews and feature stories. Our objective was to spread the message that places created with people at their heart attract higher financial returns, economic upswing and improved community wellbeing.

Organisation

Hoyne

Team

Creative Director: Andrew Hoyne
Design Director: Nichole Trionfi
Copywriter: Jacquie Byron
Designer: Nick Fels
Production: Manny Tsirmiris

Project Brief

Project Brief: For 25 years Hoyne Design has been working within the property sector as a branding specialist. During that time the company’s Principal, Andrew Hoyne, has travelled widely and explored many cities, meeting talented and passionate architects, developers, planners and designers along the way. Many of these individuals had great aspirations, intentions and ambitions when it came to integrating effective placemaking with development but their efforts often went unrealised, chiefly because of economic and regulatory factors. Eventually Andrew came to believe that Australia is at a crossroads, one where we need to put serious thought into the work done today in order to maintain our famous Australian quality of life tomorrow. This is why he undertook The Place Economy. The Place Economy sets out to prove the categorical link between better placemaking and significantly higher profits via a collection of case studies, interviews and feature stories. The brief was to create a book that would spread the message that places created with people at their heart attract higher financial returns, economic upswing and improved community wellbeing. The target audience comprised property developers, investors, government officials, urban planners, architects, educators and students.

Project Innovation/Need

The Place Economy needed to highlight some of the incredible projects across the globe showcasing the brilliant outcomes that arise when government, commerce and communities listen to each other and collaborate in the building of cities. Its goal is to demonstrate how successful placemaking delivers higher profits for developers because places with meaning and resonance are places that people want to be part of. This results in apartments selling for higher prices and leasing deals achieving higher rates per square metre. The Place Economy also had substantiate the argument that these same kinds of places and projects translate into more commercially engaging products at a marketing level. The Place Economy needed to be particularly helpful, instructive and inspiring to private developers and local governments, and had to be grounded in the real world in order to speak convincingly and authoritatively to truly influential developers in planning, design and development.

Design Challenge

The challenge was to convey, in a clear, articulate and engaging way, how best practice placemaking can deliver higher profits for developers. It had to be a meaningful tool for conveying this critical topic to a larger audience, thereby igniting debate and action. Using stunning photography, illustration and design we produced a collectible treatise for key players in the industry. The look and feel accurately reflected the quality and expertise of the information showcased within and the credentials of contributors whose ideas we shared. We highlighted the positive via real-life successful case studies and also by sharing visionary thinking and insights from leading minds in the field. The Place Economy also points to the negative legacy we risk if we continue to water down innovation, creativity and quality in our buildings, precincts, suburbs, cities and regions. By gathering interviews, first-person essays, case studies and academic papers from a respected and diverse group of experts, the book shows how innovative placemaking can attract business to communities and cities and improve economies.

Effectiveness

Major developers, architects, urban planners and government bodies, including Frasers Property Australia, Lendlease, Mirvac, Bates Smart, Woods Bagot, Elenberg Fraser, Parramatta City Council, the Committee for Sydney and the City of Melbourne are now in possession of the book, which has been purchased by readers as far afield as the UK, Europe and the USA. The Place Economy has also gained national and international exposure, appearing on SKY TV and in several high-profile property and development publications including The Place Brand Observer in Barcelona. Within four months the book generated $20,000 for Habitat for Humanity, though its goal is to raise $100,000 for the charity.