Nine Brighton
Think inside the square
Dexus is Australia’s largest office developer, a company built on delivering exceptional large-scale CBD buildings. Nine Brighton was a deliberate departure: a boutique, ground-plus-eight workplace in Richmond, Melbourne’s city fringe, designed to attract next-generation businesses that want the rigour of big-business thinking in a smaller, more distinctive setting. The challenge was to build a brand that could hold its own against established CBD product, while making a credible case for the fringe, not as a compromise, but as the smarter choice.
Theola’s research identified that Richmond’s appeal is not just proximity to the CBD, but the texture of the precinct itself with the restaurants, the park, the train station two minutes away and the sense of being in the middle of something culturally alive.
The insight
Richmond's city-fringe location isn't a trade-off, it's the point of difference. For the right kind of business, proximity to culture, convenience and community is more valuable than a CBD address.
The idea
Think inside the square reframes the unconventional choice as the intelligent one. It positions Nine Brighton within Richmond's cultural 'square' while turning the familiar logic of outside-the-box thinking on its head.
The creative approach
To match the building's challenger personality, Theola commissioned Argentinian illustrator Ana Duje to create a graphic language that is entirely its own bold, vibrant and distinct in a category that rarely takes visual risks. Every touchpoint, from hoarding to EDM, was designed to feel earned, not assembled.
