Think of a time when you’ve asked someone where they’re from. The answer is revealing. They will rarely say the country or state, and almost always start with the suburb or street in which they live.

We define ourselves by the suburb in which we reside, or the place we have the closest connection with – our home.

Another test. Ask yourself – are you proud of your suburb’s cultural life, vibe and activities? Then work out the number of those activities in which you have actually participated in. We are proud of aspects of our place that we don’t really have much, if anything, to do with.

Last one: if your suburb was a person, what kind of person would it be? Well dressed, intellectual, sophisticated? Or laidback, humble and hardworking? We often judge a place by its people, and ascribe certain social identities to different postcodes.

The ‘image’ of a suburb or a building can be defined as: a sum of beliefs, ideas, impressions that a people have of a place.

How we perceive a place (a building, street, suburb, or city) is defined by our reactions to its perceived strengths and weaknesses in the following dimensions:

• Presence: how does the development stand in relation to neighbouring properties?
• People: how are residents of the suburb perceived?
• Potential: what is the perceived potential of the suburb?
• Prerequisites: does the suburb include basic infrastructure and amenities?
• Vibe: how is the energy expressed in the suburb through cultural vibrancy, activities etc.?
• Place: what are the physical, man-made and natural assets of the suburb?

Our developments, from Elwood to Carrum, are always designed and constructed with the above dimensions in mind. At Lowe we look beyond bricks and mortar to ensure the Bayside developments we design and build, are sensitive to the unique environmental and cultural context of their location.

We focus on creating the homes that people want, rather than finding people to fill the homes we’ve built.

Find out more about the recent homes we’ve created.