Built to Last: Mainbrace marks 35 years
Mainbrace turns 35 in 2024 and over the years the company has seen first-hand how retail, and retail construction, has evolved. What remains unchanged, though, is the importance of relationships.
When addressing more than 200 clients at Mainbrace’s recent 35th birthday party, Rob Doust, Managing Director noted “One of the 27 nuggets of gold in Mainbrace co-founder, Peter McKinnon’s mud map was the importance of relationships.”
Retail environments have always mirrored the preferences of the communities they serve.
As preferences change, so does the role of retail, and so does the vision retailers have for their assets.
These preferential changes range from experiential retail to drive deeper engagement, a reconsideration of bricks and mortar from an omnichannel perspective, mixed-use spaces that blur the line between places to transact and places to dwell, elevated food and beverage offers, technology, sustainability, and more.
In delivering new retail environments, Mainbrace has lived this evolution. It has found that early collaboration is the best way to create an end product that’s an accurate expression of the initial vision.
Rob Doust explains, “Working closely has never been more beneficial.
“Seeking cost and constructability feedback early, alongside an open, honest and transparent design phase, can lead to significant savings, or at the very least, greater control to meet budget with fewer surprises.”
Better sustainability outcomes are also possible when Mainbrace is at the table from the outset.
“Sustainability expectations are increasing and Green Star aspirations are too but it’s often misunderstood.
“While calculations like embodied carbon are cutting-edge, many organisations remain unaware on their impact on Green Star, and if Mainbrace is engaged too late, it can compromise the Green Star outcome.
“Supporting clients from the start of their Green Star journey has emerged as a high priority for us,” Doust says.
More and more, the best outcomes are driven by the early application of data, he says.
“We have spent the last decade-plus collecting a broad range of data. Working with LFRA clients from conception, we can apply unique, detailed, ordered and vetted data on the real cost of construction.
“In showing this to clients, including data bespoke to their own projects, we can demonstrate how we can use data to create a cycle of continuous improvement.”
Since 1989, when Mainbrace was established, much has changed in the industry. Much has changed in the company too.
Mainbrace began as a modest but motivated 10-employee outfit. The company’s first project was valued at $1.8 million, small by today’s standards but very significant for the time and in the circumstances, and a sign of much bigger things to come.
Over the years, the company transitioned from being a generalist builder to a specialist retail builder, expanding into new markets including Queensland and Victoria, and making its mark in large format retail.
In this sector, Mainbrace has delivered over 130 projects, for a range of high-profile market leaders including Costco, Bunnings, HomeCo, Harvey Norman and more.
Fast forward to today and the $500 million company just completed the $100 million Oran Park Podium project.
A few years ago, it delivered the major refurbishment of the iconic David Jones Elizabeth Street store in Sydney, it’s largest value project to date of $200 million.
And there are now 230 employees – ‘Mainbracers’ – nationally. They’re engaged on a range of projects, including large format retail builds for clients the company has worked with for decades.
And it’s set to continue. As retail construction evolves to encompass new trends like artificial intelligence, robotics, automation and prefabrication, relationships remain the key.
Some Mainbrace relationships span 30 or more years. They’re both the reason for Mainbrace’s longevity and the platform for its future.
Mr Doust closed his address with, “While we love working in retail, and are relishing expanding into logistics, we love even more working with great clients.
“We care about their vision, we care about their projects, we care about their success.”
