Leeuwin Barracks is located on the southern banks of the Swan River in East Fremantle. In 2015, the Department of Defence announced the intent to sell the asset and partnered with the Town of East Fremantle to undertake a design Charrette to inform preparation of a vision plan for the site prior to its disposal.

element delivered a four-day intensive Charrette that entailed a series of focused workshops run parallel to an evolving urban design process. The sessions included themed stakeholder events, open house community sessions and a large ‘end of Charrette’ presentation session. We assembled, led and managed a multidisciplinary team including design and technical specialists.

We ran a highly inclusive, constructive and well-structured Charrette that created opportunities for all community, stakeholder and interest groups to participate at various touch points throughout the event. We facilitated a high level of collaboration between the design and technical team which enabled design and strategy responses to be developed in the ‘real time’ context – live and transparently with immediate reporting to community. A sensitive approach was necessary when interfacing with community and former Defence personnel as for some, the site represented difficult memories. We demonstrated how future development could honour the context and former uses and created a vision plan that was well received by community and key stakeholders.

• Design and deliver multi-day Charrette engagement process  
• Place vision and definition  
• Stakeholder and Community Engagement Strategy
• Workshop design and facilitation  
• Online community survey  
• Urban design
• Masterplan
• Engagement outcomes report