communikate et al has been recognised as setting a benchmark for community engagement, with our client the City of Unley winning an Urban Design Landscape Award at the 2019 South Australian Landscape Architecture Awards.

In 2018, the City of Unley commenced the $15.5 million re-design of King William Road. This is aimed at transforming the state’s most loved mainstreet into a vibrant, dynamic and versatile precinct.

communikate et al was appointed to work with Council in establishing a co-design approach, supported by strategic marketing communications which engaged key stakeholders through a three-staged process.

Engaging the community

Among the initiatives was a project ‘shopfront’ located on King William Road for four months, with an ‘open door’ policy. The shopfront was critical in engaging the community during the consultation phase. It led to more than 600 conversations between community, local residents, traders and landlords and Council staff. This collaborative approach resulted in:

  • Positive community buy in
  • Raised aspirations
  • A Council-endorsed design, developed in record time

The design-led engagement process

Design-led engagement provided a framework to discuss the future of King William Road and align stakeholders around shared goals for the precinct’s new design. The three-stage engagement involved:

  • Developing a shared vision and common set of aspirations for the precinct
  • Testing key design ideas
  • Further development and testing of a preferred design solution

Our team worked with the City of Unley to create and manage key marketing communications initiatives that underpinned the project’s success. These included:

  • The creation of a project name and brand identity – Design King William – which could be applied throughout the engagement, design and construction of the project
  • Use of social media
  • A dedicated project website
  • Regular communication through EDMs to the traders and wider community
  • Milestone videos and key collateral and signage

With paving now complete and the road now open to traffic, we look forward to continuing to support the City of Unley as the community’s shared vision for King William Road comes to life.