Project Overview

The Orchards is a $1.4B Sekisui House master planned luxury development in the Norwest, Sydney’s fastest growing region. In the first development of its kind for Sydney’s Norwest region, The Orchards Master Plan is located on what was NSW’s first orangery established in the early 1800’s. The development comprises 7 stages, across 8.8 hectares and will yield 1,300 apartments on completion.

The Orchards Master Plan for which its Display Suite was built, is an innovative development with ambitions to take Norwest’s urban rejuvenation to a level never before experienced in the area. The client was keen for the development’s marketing programme to represent a clear vision for the region’s future prosperity and confidently communicate its provision of a higher quality of life for the existing community and for those interested in becoming new community members. The Orchards brand represented a launch pad for these sentiments.

Carrying a deep sense of history alongside an optimistic view of its future, the development is designed to purposefully create a sustainable, inspired and connected community. The Display Suite is one of the first early brand expressions that immerses the customer in this very story.

The development incorporates leading innovation, design and technology to ensure a sustainable and premium lifestyle experience. At the heart of The Orchards Master Plan is a development designed to purposefully create a sustainable, inspired and connected community; connected with each other and connected with nature.

Project Commissioner

Sekusui House

Project Creator

Toast Creative

Project Brief

As with all property projects, a key part of the marketing brief for the master plan was the design and build of a Display Suite. Due to the scale and vision for The Orchards master plan, Toast understood that this project needed to be approached differently, and in a way that could set new benchmarks not only for the area but as a best practice example for Sekisui House globally.

The Display Suite was to embody the narrative of ‘growth’ focusing on customer needs, wellbeing and community growth while being authentic to the local area. Taking on board 12 months of strategy and acknowledging the development’s design challenges, presented an opportunity for all stakeholders to deliver something special.

Project Innovation/Need

The elegance and underpinning message of The Orchard’s brand identity is played out in the immersive experience of a stunning 500sqm Display Suite. The space offers direct reference to the area’s history with an indoor terrarium hosting a full-sized, citrus tree. This physical embodiment of the area’s heritage is a central feature of the space and is intended to clearly convey the development’s intention to uphold its values of nurturing and growing community and family, sustainably.

The idea of liveability is elevated in the Display Suite. The brand promises a well-balanced life where nature, comfort and amenity converge. The Display Suite needed to connect its agricultural past to an expression of new beginnings and new futures.

Integration of technology within the Display Suite was an opportunity to dynamically reactivate the site’s stories of past agricultural prosperity while also foretelling the modern chapter of living an inspired life at The Orchards.

A series of digital screens grace the walls of the Display Suite. These have a mixed use. Large curved screens offer information about the site’s history, present locality and infrastructure while separate screens are used by the sales team to take prospective buyers on a journey of their new building and apartment. Additionally, a sensory and informative introduction to life at The Orchards by way of a 7 minute brand video was projected in the 25 square metre Immersion Room. Satisfying both creative expression of The Orchards brand and its promise, the experience takes this often used brand tactic to a new level using filmic and story-telling qualities that are rare in the sector.

Design Challenge

The design challenges of the Display Suite were shared by the overall master plan campaign. Due to the scale and vision for The Orchards master plan, Toast understood that this project needed to be approached differently.

Communicating a genuine respect for the area’s past needed to marry with the opportunities of the future bringing existing and future communities together -

(1) The site’s location away from Norwest’s centre : the launch of competitor developments in the area posed welcome competition while changes to foreign ownership laws prompted local buyer interest and sales leads. A 3D model of the area, dynamic digital content and well trained sales staff were all key to communicating The Orchards’ advantages of privacy, space and connectivity of a different kind – one with nature.

(2) The need to communicate genuine concern for community and individual well-being: it was absolutely key that the marketing campaign conveyed the developer’s unwavering interest in the welfare of the people thereby upholding the developer’s deep respect for humanity. The Display Suite’s strong focus on storytelling - of stories past and future - were a clever way to stress the developer’s intent to grow and nurture community.

(3) The breadth and complexity of deliverables: the sophistication of the display suite design required a highly organised and collaborative team effort. From the environmental/spatial and interior design, to its materiality, technology and innovation, the Display Suite is a stunning embodiment of The Orchards brand.

Effectiveness

The result is an inviting sales space that draws the visitor in using highly visible cues marrying technology and nature. The visitor’s journey has been carefully designed so information is ‘collected’ as an interested buyer navigates the space, gradually building an aspirational picture of life at The Orchards. This culminates in the Immersion Room where a 7 minute brand video takes visitors on an emotional journey of a day ‘in the life’ intending to truly bring the experience of The Orchards brand alive.