Indigenous engagement is increasingly manifesting in the way buildings are designed.
The concept of ‘designing for country’ was unfamiliar to many in the property development sector as recently as a decade ago.
However, the practice has firmly entered the mainstream, as developers embed it into their procurement processes for property assets.
Designing for country involves engaging the local Indigenous population about the historical significance of a site as it affects First Nations Australians.
Multinational developer Brookfield has amplified its focus on Indigenous engagement in recent years, and its $800 million One The Esplanade project in Elizabeth Quay has set a new industry standard.
The Hassell-designed tower formed the basis of Brookfield Properties’ Reconciliation Action Plan and attracted a Property Council of Australia award for community engagement.
Brookfield engaged Indigenous adviser Carol Innes on the Chevronanchored building along with fellow Whadjuk Noongar consultant Barry McGuire.
Ms Innes can attest to the shifts in mindset from property developers over the years on the importance of Aboriginal engagement.
“With Brookfield, our engagement was a sign in their foyer ten years ago,” Ms Innes told Business News.
“Now we’re working from the cultural practice of a cleansing ceremony at the sod turning, at the top out ceremony and then holding all the way through the engagement through arts development and design.
“It’s a very significant change.”
Ms Innes is also working with the Swanbourne Hospice and with Perth Children’s Hospital on its playground.
In addition, she consulted on Perth’s Woodside building.
Ms Innes said Indigenous engagement, which has been embedded in parts of the mining industry for decades, was just as important for the property sector.
“People talk about what happens with fracking and mining and the extraction and destruction of country; development is the same, and it’s more impactful,” she said.
“Look at our city. Perth has the biggest urban sprawl per capita across one of the biggest cities in the country, yet we don’t have the population, so that is a lot of destruction on country, especially with waterways, and Perth is built on waterways.”
Elizabeth Quay, specifically, sits on the edge of the Swan River, or Derbal Yerrigan.
“It was the space where people would come to connect and be … a gathering place … our people were really connected to that place,” Ms Innes said.
Ms Innes, who worked with Mr McGuire on One The Esplanade, said the point of Indigenous engagement was to bring the history of spaces to the fore.
“Perth is an ancient city and our people were here first, and I think people forget. They think ... just because we have new buildings [that] it’s a new city and we’re less than 200 years old,” she said.
“What we’re trying to get people to understand is there was life here before 1829.
“Especially with all we’ve gone through in the last year. It’s pivotal to keep reinforcing and [that] these buildings could become knowledge and libraries for change, to get people to understand where they stand on country.”
Stuart Green and Sandra Hill’s Within Without sculpture outside Chevron Tower. Photo: Brookfield Properties
The Aboriginal engagement process for One The Esplanade resulted in the inclusion of Indigenous art and sculpture and landscaped elements that reflect the local history.
A mature tuart tree was transported to the site and placed in a circular cutout of the building, enabling it to be viewed from within the offices as well as the ground floor.
The building includes a native landscaped rooftop podium on level three, while the structure’s design is formed around the preservation of a heritage Moreton Bay fig tree at ground level.
“Everything that comes into the built environment … the sand into the cement, the glass into the windows, the iron in the steel … all comes from country,” Ms Innes said.
“We’re trying to make people understand that while they’re still inside a building, they still have a touch point in connection with country.”
Brookfield Properties vice-president developments Cliff Winby said the process at One The Esplanade formed the basis of the developer’s inaugural reconciliation action plan in 2022.
“Our procurement model has been adapted to proactively consider First Nations businesses,” he said.
Brookfield Properties has allocated more than $1.2 million to First Nations businesses in the 2022-23 financial year, Mr Winby added.
The company engaged arts management consultant Apparatus to formulate an arts strategy for One The Esplanade, which resulted in the delivery of two major public art pieces.
Additionally, there’s a 4.2-metre, two-piece structure by Stuart Green and cultural adviser Sandra Hill, dubbed Within Without.
Speaking to Business News, Mr Winby said Brookfield endeavoured to generate exposure for Indigenous sculptures during the art procurement process.
“The whole idea wasn’t just about creating a great piece of public art, but it was actually helping develop the art community,” he said.
Mr Winby added that the Aboriginal engagement process at One The Esplanade, Brookfield’s most comprehensive to date, had informed other developments.
The company is applying a similar approach to Nine the Esplanade, adjacent to the Chevron tower.
“On other building sites, we certainly had cleansing ceremonies and the rest of it, but for One The Esplanade we had quite a comprehensive approach,” he said.
“It touched ... the cultural safety plan, it covered the construction process, the public art process, the landscape design.
“It … was probably the most comprehensive approach we’ve adopted to date.”
Ms Innes emphasised the importance of the corporate sector in valuing Indigenous engagement, particularly given it was a voluntary process.
“I think the beautiful part of this is, why it works is the relationship that’s built through this whole process, and the willingness and the courage to take on board a different way of working,” she said.
“I give that to Brookfield in a very powerful way, because they don’t have to do this, and they did it.
“I think that’s what we have to demonstrate, that … industry and corporate and companies, no matter how big or small, can have an influencing change to get people to understand more about Aboriginal people on country.”
A dancer in hi-vis performs at One The Esplanade’s topping out ceremony. Photo: Brookfield Properties
Chevron, too, was instrumental in embedding Aboriginal stories into One The Esplanade.
Speaking about the process, Mr Winby said intertwining European history with Aboriginal heritage was a delicate balance.
“[It] required a lot of care and attention,” he said.
“And credit to Chevron. They were strong on wanting to have the development be … welcoming for everyone.”
Mr Winby said developers had shifted their attitudes in the past decade to a greater focus on First Nations engagement.
“I’ve been in industry for a long time, twenty-five years, and it’s fair to say there’s been a considerable change, particularly over the last, probably over the last ten years in particular,” he said.
“I think the key thing [is] for quite a while there’s been a desire and a focus to close the gap and to progress reconciliation.
“The great thing that the [consultants] do … is they actually help people like us … navigate the engagement with the First Nations people so that we try and get it right, and we don’t make too many mistakes.
“The challenge is, because we are coming from such a place of, frankly, significant ignorance, it’s very easy to make a mistake and to get things wrong.
“That’s been a challenge in the past. You don’t realise that you’ve done it, but you’re trying to do the right thing and actually end up doing something totally inappropriate.”
