Image Credit : @nicolasraulphotos
Project Overview
Ashbury is a greenfield development by The Dennis Family Corporation and is in the growth area of Armstrong Creek. With only 15 mins to the heart of vibrant Geelong, it’s a highly sought-after development for people to make their homes in.
The investment in the refresh of the Ashbury sales office resulted in very impressive statistics:
* In terms of enquiry recorded physically at the Sales Office “Walk-in Enquiry”, the Ashbury Sales Office recorded an increase of 78% across the ten weeks following the Sales Office works compared to the same period before the works.
* The Sales Staff noted that many new customers commented on the remarkable presentation of the refreshed sales office, as distinct from other developments in the Armstrong Creek corridor.
* The new-look Sales Office also helped to support the perceived value of the community in conjunction with Ashbury’s new branding at the time, pitched as a premium, well-established development.
* In addition to the uplift in enquiry recorded on-site, the Sales Office also assisted in converting these to sales. The business recorded a 64% increase in sales for the five months following the launch of the new-look Sales Office compared to the five months prior.
* The Dennis Family Corporation Marketing Department noted that the Sales Office refurbishment was a great success and has helped enhance both the brand presence and customer experience alike on-site and at the point of sale.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Diva Works: Sales Office Design Team and Project Management
Desi Daul: Head Project Manager, Diva Works
Peter Whatmough: Head + Detail Designer
Sales Office Construction: SPM
Internal Fit-Out: DCSE International
Internal Graphics: The Image Box & Muromatic
External Graphics: ID Signs
Project Brief
The Ashbury sales office was initially fitted out in 2015 and desperately needed an update. The timing was perfect in 2021 as Raft, the development's agency, had updated the brand, and the development was at maturity.
The design brief required Diva Works to:
• Create a seamless integration from the external façade to the internal fit-out. The Dennis Family Corporation did not want to contain the update to the interior fit-out only and asked Diva Works to provide design solutions for the external facades and signage.
• Map out the customer journey so the experience was seamless for the customers and took them through the sales office in a logical sequence that allowed them to understand the scope of the Ashbury development and its crucial lifestyle amenities
• Future-proof the sales office to allocate space for current interactive technologies as well as have space given where this can be added to in the future without costly renovations
• Provide several seating areas for sales conversations, including high benches for layout plans, cosy lounges to talk about land options and a private meeting room where confidential financial discussions can be held.
• Incorporate the rich Dennis Family History within the sales office. With so many builders and developers flooding the greenfield development space, the longevity and commitment to community building needed to be highlighted within the sales office
Project Innovation/Need
The process that Diva Works uses to design and deliver a sales office is unique to the market: we start with strategy.
During our briefing session with The Dennis Family Corporation, we sought to understand what worked in the current fit-out and what sticky problems we needed to solve. We spent time with the sales staff to understand their selling process and what tools they needed to assist customers better. We looked at the brand refresh for where the opportunities were with finishes and materiality to bring the Ashbury brand to life in the sales office. This work upfront means a more prosperous and stunning sales office at the back end as it’s tied to a thorough knowledge of the customer and their needs.
Our innovative project management process is based on a purpose-built quoting and ordering platform that allows us to achieve the delivery of sales offices bang on budget. With an ongoing $40,000 + GST spent on developing this platform, it ensures nothing within the sales office, from the custom built-glass entry feature with inset graphics to a single pendant light globe, either forgotten to be included on the quote or ordered for install. Clients like The Dennis Family Corporation trust Diva Works to handle both the large and small details of the sales office fit-out, and with this project management platform, we know we have costs accounted for and orders to suppliers in hand.
Design Challenge
While each sales office has similar requirements like touch screen tables, aerial maps and master and stage plans, how we approach this is different for each sales office. This can be a challenge to make sure that each sales office has its unique look that will encourage the customer to spend time in the sales office, learn about the development and then make Ashbury their home.
In the case of the Ashbury sales office update, the brand's freshness strongly influenced our design direction and choice of materials. As the design and fit-out of the sales office happened during Covid, we needed to be very reasonable in our selection of materials. Many of our favourite suppliers were on reduced staff quotas; others had supply issues with getting materials and tocks from overseas or even the local market with lockdowns or isolation periods.
Our long and supportive relationships with our trusted suppliers paid off as they went over and above to deliver Ashbury. Our supplier team worked in advance, securing scarce materials and staggered work times to ensure that we were following social distancing and density limits on workshop and space within the sales office when it came to the fit-out.
Covid gave us many speedbumps throughout this project. Still, under the calm and controlled stewardship of Desi, our senior project manager on the job, the sales office was opened on time and within budget.
Sustainability
When updating the Ashbury sales office, we first looked at what we could re-use in the new fit-out. We were able to:
• Reuse some of the current furniture items
• Strip the LED lights from the current lightboxes and re-install new cabinetry items
• Some of the graphic frames could be recladded in the new finishes
• For the furniture we couldn't reuse, The Dennis Family Corporation offered the prices for sales to their staff at attractive discounts
• For any joinery items not able to be reused, we stripped them of hardware that can be reused and then broke down carcases to use on crates, for packing and in internal carcass frames for this or other sales office projects
• Signage panels made from ACM could have the current graphic removed and then either reused on this project or another
• We chose products that had a low carbon footprint where possible
• Joinery and graphic items were manufactured off-site, so any offcuts/proof prints could be recycled easily
• LED lights to illuminate lightboxes and pedant lights that had a low power consumption were selected and installed
Pop-Ups, Display, Exhibit & Set Design
This award celebrates innovative and creative design for a temporary building or interior, exhibition, pop up site, installation, fixture or interactive element. Consideration given to materials, finishes, signage and experience.
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