Who.

The creative template recognizes that places are made after their stories and communities can best participate in the shaping of new public infrastructure when the project speaks their language.

The creative template brings to the discussions with community groups, project partners and commercial investors a rich web of place-making stories that catch the ‘sense of place’. Place-based research is brought to the table in order to open a dialogue; feedback is incorporated. In this way the template becomes an active record of creative community input and a synthesis of stakeholder aspirations.

This content-rich, dialogue-based and additive approach allows traditional knowledge holders as well as community groups with expert but specialized local knowledge to participate equally in the place-making process. Capturing key themes, the creative template becomes a valuable document for the project team and the client. It provides clear guidelines for the design brief and, post-commission, an ongoing reference document against which individual design decisions can be assessed. In this phase it critically protects the overall design integrity of the project against fragmentation.

Later in the delivery process, it serves as a valuable tool for translating the ‘sense of place’ values into concepts and images informing branding, programming, commercial fitout and planning overlays.