Originally built in the sixties, 357 Collins was last refurbished in 2012 but was starting to look very dated in comparison to its neighbours and peers.

An ‘A’ grade building with a great location, tenants and all the features you’d expect, 357 Collins just didn’t look the part, especially in the public areas and entrances. It was also not making the most of its laneway and food court area.

Most of the refurbishment planned was cosmetic, so there were no fundamental changes to the building. The front and rear of the building, along with the food court were also very disparate and uninviting. This highlighted an opportunity to revitalise and reimagine these common areas into vibrant spaces to dwell, meet and eat. At the heart of this, we wanted to find ways to connect and hero the two very distinct personalities of the place, the corporate prestige and the eclectic laneway culture, into a cohesive and compelling precinct.

Working closely with Frasers Property, their architects and property management team, we set out to redefine the experience of 357 Collins and create an urban place brand.

The new brand proposition for 357 Collins is built on appreciating every aspect. Four brand pillars were established to hero the brand’s compelling differentiation and build a multi-faceted brand platform and tailored messaging to engage current and future tenants, retailers as well as visitors.

Our brand architecture and naming exploring the opportunity to change the name. After stress testing different options, it was decided that equity in the name ‘357’ outweighed the potential opportunity of change. However, we did decide to hero and take more ownership of the laneway name ‘Fulham Place’ as part of the brand architecture. What was previous a food court, has now become an extension of Fulham Place to create a seamless journey from Collins Street to Flinders Lane.

The brand proposition also defined a completely new brand personality that ensures the brand is sophisticated, vivid, multifaceted and charming.

To reflect the brand proposition the new brand identity was created around a type mark that is both elegant and timeless. It literally illustrates the path between two worlds. It is the simplicity of the brandmark that allows it to work and ring true in both environments.

Creating a bespoke wordmark that can be both straight and playful to reflect the two faces of Melbourne; the high street and the laneway. The wordmark and sophisticated colour palette was then used on all way-finding with custom directional arrows and icons.

Along with visualisation and commissioning support for the laneway graffiti and internal artwork, the brand identity has the ability to move between the two worlds while reflecting each.