QIC’s new Good Design Framework challenges retailers and landlords to look beyond aesthetics, bringing together purpose, people, circularity and experience to create stores that perform over the long term. John Grinham, Portfolio General Manager – Retail Design and Delivery at QIC, explains the thinking behind the framework.
A successful retail fitout is about more than making an impression on opening day. It needs to remain functional, relevant and commercially effective as customer expectations and retail concepts evolve.
That longer-term perspective is central to QIC’s new Good Design Framework, developed through analysis across more than 30 properties, workshops with retail partners and a review of global retail design trends.
John Grinham says the framework brings together the knowledge accumulated by QIC’s design teams, creating a consistent approach across the portfolio while allowing individual stores to respond to their brand and local community.
“We went back through our many new or refurbished stores and asked which stores were still working and why,” he says.
The findings showed that the strongest outcomes were not necessarily associated with the newest or most expensive fitouts, pointing to the importance of design thinking rather than budget alone.
Four principles of good design
The framework is built around four principles: Purpose, People, Circularity and Experience.
Purpose connects a store to its brand, customers and location. People considers everyone using the space, including employees. Circularity addresses material selection, reuse and end-of-lease outcomes, while Experience focuses on creating environments that encourage customers to return.
For Grinham, a common framework does not mean uniformity. Instead, it provides a shared starting point for retailers, designers and shopfitters.
“Form really should follow function,” he says. “We want stores to respond to the community around them.”
The principles also bring sustainability into the core design conversation, rather than treating it as an additional consideration that can be dropped when budgets tighten.
Modular fixtures that can be adapted or reused between stores, for example, can reduce waste and replacement costs. Similarly, quality lighting can improve product presentation and customer comfort while reducing energy consumption.
Making circularity work commercially
The framework also highlights the commercial benefits of collaboration between landlords and retailers.
At Castle Towers, QIC worked with R.M. Williams and Peter Jackson during a tenancy changeover. Rather than requiring R.M. Williams to remove its existing fitout, the parties agreed it could remain in place, helping offset unexpected costs for the outgoing retailer while avoiding additional expenditure for QIC.
However, Grinham acknowledges that traditional lease provisions requiring tenants to return premises to a bare shell can make reuse difficult.
His view is that the timing of conversations is critical.
“A framework is about prompting the right conversation at the right moment,” he says.
Engaging retailers and design teams early in the leasing process gives parties more opportunity to identify reusable materials and infrastructure before decisions are locked in.
Designing for purpose and experience
The Aesop store at Canberra Centre demonstrates how design can connect a brand to its local setting.
The fitout incorporates reclaimed eucalyptus crafted by a local furniture studio. A repurposed marble basin from the previous store was also retained, with its design paying homage to Canberra’s more than 400 roundabouts.
The results extended beyond aesthetics. Grinham says that during the Mother’s Day period, five months after opening, the store recorded the highest sales of any Aesop store in Australia or New Zealand.
While the new location and additional space contributed, he also credits the store’s design and the team delivering the brand experience.
“If the staff are passionate about that purpose, it doesn’t take long for that to find its way to the customer,” he says.
Experience is another key consideration, particularly as retailers look to build communities around their brands. Activewear retailer LSKD, for example, designs its stores to accommodate run clubs, yoga sessions and gear-swap events.
These activities require practical design decisions, including flexible floor space, storage and room for customers to gather without disrupting the store’s operation.
Putting people first
QIC’s workshops with retail partners, including Country Road, Cotton On Group, Super Retail Group, Guzman y Gomez and Grill’d, also reinforced the importance of designing for employees as well as customers.
Sometimes, the most effective improvements are not the most visible. Comfortable changing rooms and flattering lighting can enhance the customer experience, while staff lockers, charging points and kitchen facilities can improve the working environment.
Grinham points to Cotton On as an example of a retailer investing in staff facilities. Material selection also matters, with low-VOC materials and improved air quality contributing to healthier workplaces.
The message is that good design must consider everyone who uses the space, not just those who shop there.
Thinking beyond the five-year fitout cycle
The framework challenges the traditional five-year fitout cycle, encouraging retailers to consider how designs and components might perform for ten years or longer.
For Grinham, longevity depends on more than durable fixtures and materials. It requires a clear understanding of a store’s purpose, its customers and the community it serves.
Ultimately, the measure of success is whether a fitout continues to deliver for customers, employees, retailers and property owners long after opening day.
As Grinham puts it, a good fitout “isn’t just a brand statement on opening day” – it is an investment that should continue performing for the community the centre serves.
- Further reading on QIC’s Good Design Framework
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