Client: Lend Lease Europe
Project: Vision To Reality book
Date: 1999

Based in Australia, Lend Lease Corporation is one of the world’s largest property companies. Its first venture in Europe was to create the Bluewater Retail Park in south east England, turning an abandoned chalk pit into a hugely successful shopping and leisure centre. The project revolutionised the mechanics, accessibility, visual and environmental design of ‘malls’, and introduced the UK construction industry to a totally new working culture.

Vision To Reality is a lavishly produced 208 page book, telling the story of how Bluewater came together. The writing task involved turning research that included interviews with senior Lend Lease personnel, the architect Eric Kuhne, other consultants and local residents, plus reams of records, drawings and data into a readable narrative. The book, designed by Browns/London, features extensive photography by Magnum photographers.

"One day in early 1994, an Australian businessman found himself standing alone, in the middle of an empty, derelict chalk quarry in north Kent. Peter Walicknowski was just 20 miles from his small office near Trafalgar Square, yet this felt like a different planet from the West End. There was grass up to his knees and the occasional rabbit that took fright and ran for cover..."