The Lonsdale Precinct is an A-grade commercial hub covering an entire city block in the Melbourne CBD’s prestigious and historically rich Parliamentary Precinct. The block – owned by ISPT Super Property - includes a mix of commercial buildings, including 2 Lonsdale Street (Casselden), 50 Lonsdale Street and 271 Spring Street), a laneway (Madame Brussels Lane) that offers a range of convenience retail and food and beverage options, as well as some public space.

ISPT has a strong commitment to placemaking as a creative and strategic approach to the growth and continuous improvement of its property portfolio and sought to embed this approach as a means of improving the Precinct’s public experience. ISPT engaged Village Well to develop a Placemaking Strategy for the Lonsdale Precinct, to guide future planning, programming and operations planning.

Village Well was involved from the commencement of the project in January 2018 and worked collaboratively with ISPT, property managers CBRE and the design team throughout the different phases of design. Village Well’s approach included in-depth place research and analysis, as well as user engagement with tenants and office workers through facilitated workshops and intercept surveys. This informed the development of a compelling vision and Placemaking Strategy and Implementation Plan for the Precinct.

Village Well’s place-based analysis provided ISPT and the wider project team with a richer understanding of the history of the Lonsdale Precinct, and recommended that the site celebrate this, in particular the Indigenous history and original gum trees of Melbourne, the stump of one being located on site. Village Well’s recommendations included the creation of a Place Manager role, which was formally filled in August 2019.