The precinct itself is also a work of art, designed by Richard Gailey Jr, who is regarded as one of Queensland’s most important earlier architects.

So when it came time to refresh the iconic shopping precinct’s website, fashion, design and architecture were front of mind.

What we did

Brisbane Arcade’s team wanted to showcase the fashion focus on the centre, while highlighting its historical significance, and add an element of freshness to the site so that people were able to find new content each time they return.

Rather than approaching the site as a rebranding exercise, we worked to take the most iconic parts of the existing Brisbane Arcade brand and pushed it towards its fullest potential. Full width imagery, spacious structure and a refined colour palette all spoke to the editorial style and high quality craftsmanship that Brisbane Arcade offers. We balanced a need to look timeless and bespoke while developing an accessible and fully responsive site that looks to the future.

Most shopping precinct websites tend to run on clunky CMS platforms and have little flexibility from a design perspective. They also tend to be static from a user perspective and lack the energy that’s associated with the in-person experience of visiting the precinct.

We took a content-led approach to the wireframing and design to ensure that Brisbane Arcade could add news and events to the website that would keep the website feeling fresh and current throughout the year, without requiring major website updates or development support. We also ensured that this model allowed for retailer contributions to the site as per the many stakeholder requirements.

For the build, we worked with an Elementor core on WordPress and custom fields to ensure a simple back end for admin use and content changes and additions. Special functionality of requirements for this site included shop listings and custom fields.