Frost*collective has delivered a cross-disciplinary branding and marketing program for Liverpool’s urban renewal project – The Paper Mill.
The development, comprising The Bindery and Paper Mill residential developments by Coronation Property Co. will set new benchmarks in urban design in western Sydney.
“Design is absolutely integral to every level of this development,” said Vince Frost, CEO and executive creative director of Frost*collective. “There’s a strong sense that the community is part of the transformative and positive changes that the area is undergoing and The Paper Mill is a central component of this change.”
Designed by architects Woods Bagot, urban planners Architectus and landscape specialists, Aspect Studios, the development is on the site of one of the oldest and largest paper mills in Australia. It will provide a key focus for the strategic revitalisation of this multicultural and rapidly growing area of Sydney’s West driven by Liverpool Council. Coronation Property Co’s involvement also signals commitment to the revitalisation of the region, in particular the river front precinct.
“Giving a building a deep sense of belonging in its environment is key,” said designer at Woods Bagot, Dom Alvaro. “It’s been a real pleasure to have worked with the Frost*collective team. It is imperative that the visual communications are not only strategically consistent with the project’s vision, but relevant and engaging, and Frost*collective has delivered that.”
Frost*collective’s scope of work extends beyond brand strategy and identity to an immersive display suite with art gallery space, A3 sales brochures, multi-lingual print and digital advertising, a promotional video, site hoardings, website and sales tools.
Frost*collective’s brand for the site centres on the idea of positive cycles where shared values create communities. The visual concept of the paper boat combines the location’s physical elements of the historic paper mill and the Georges River. This forms the graphic element of the identity, which is consistently integrated across all communications assets. The concept of the paper boast has also been strikingly realised in a large-scale, three-dimensional, 1.5 tonne moveable steel sculpture installed as one of the project’s environmental design outcomes.
The paper boat image was inspired by the work of local artist Mehwish Jobal who exhibited a work – “The Silence of the Sea” – at the neighbouring Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. The work, made of hundreds of paper boats suspended on fishing wire, is now installed in The Paper Mill’s display suite.
Integral to the design of the expansive, 450sqm display pavilion is the involvement of the local community. Children from a nearby school created their own paper boat installations which were photographed and displayed with portraits of Liverpool locals shot by celebrated photographer Gary Heery. These are interspersed amongst artist’s impressions of the soon-to-be realised apartment buildings.
“It’s incredibly exciting to see the City of Liverpool working with property developers to bring such high quality urban renewal projects to Western Sydney,” said Frost.
“Consumers are researching their property options with a great deal more insight than ever before.”
“Unless developers can deliver commercial objectives with strategic creative they risk losing the market’s attention. The Paper Mill project has been very interesting from an historical context and using design to enhance meaningful interaction with the community is enormously satisfying,” he said.
