Introducing Loveable

By taking time to look at the multi-functional role infrastructure plays in our lives, we can capitalise on existing assets to bring greater social and economic return. Ultimately, this enables our built environment to better meet the disparate, changing needs of our future communities.

Designing Loveable places means moving beyond tangible metrics of liveability and presumed functionality towards a deeper understanding of how communities interact with place. It’s a paradigm shift that looks beyond the ‘primary’ function of a piece of infrastructure.

GHD’s Loveable approach celebrates what makes a place unique, recognising the intangible elements that make us fall in love with the places we live, work and visit. Rather than counting the number of park benches in an area for instance, our approach considers whether people use them and how long they spend there. By taking this approach, we can create vibrant infrastructure that responds to local needs and aspirations.

To make housing truly accessible – and affordable – cost savings must be embedded across the full lifecycle of a home. While materials play a large part in the base cost of a house, energy and water efficiency must also be built into homes to reduce the operational costs to residents. This particularly applies in the social and affordable housing space, where rising energy bills can mean the difference between choosing to heat or cool a home, or not.

Using a variety of community engagement and behavioural tools, our Loveable approach enables us to collect human-centric data in multiple ways. We then apply the Loveable framework to connect design, form and function with the lived reality of a place.

This approach is guided by and developed in response to the dual pillars of ‘place identity’ and ‘people’s experience’. ‘Place identity’ celebrates the unique characteristics of place, such as landmarks, areas of social gathering or iconic institutions. ‘People’s experience’ acknowledges the identity of community, the wants and needs of differing demographics, and the rhythms and rituals that play out within a space depending on the time of day or season.

By getting to the heart of what people truly value and want more of, we can build more socially cohesive and desirable communities. This creates added economic benefit; focusing on what people love attracts talent, which in turn attracts investment. Loveable places also lead to elevated environmental outcomes and flow-on socio-economic benefits, such as reduced loneliness and improved community mental health.

Through meaningful collaboration with our clients, Loveable seeks to harness rich data and new insights to address some of the biggest social and urban planning challenges of our time.

Through Loveable, we will capitalise on existing assets, celebrate the uniqueness of place and foster people’s experience to build an inspired and productive future. A future that powerfully connects people with place, enhancing our sense of belonging and enabling our communities to thrive.