Kennards July eKourier

FEATURE

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TRAINING OUR FUTURE ARCHITECTS

In February our Team at Fortitude Valley were approached by Lecturer Tom James of Architec - ture studies from Canberra University who is facilitating external studies through TAFE QLD. Tom asked to use KSS Fortitude Valley for one of the students tasks and we were only too happy to accommodate.

locker in it! L to R: Mohammad Rezaie, Marney Lindsay, Mellony Weston and Tom James evenue Management (RM) started in d, I keep getting questions (good one venue Management System. Albeit it anagement, but I thought I would sha H

13 Kennards Kourier July 2021 ality, trends, demographics, tures, days on market, length competitive data, and many that a single person (or even an The students enjoyed a centre tour with Assistant Manager Grace, where she explained some of the history and the quirks of the building – can't find floors that slope like these ones!! a complex game that requires g several variables, like histor- mand, elasticities, prices, cal portion but a great deal of tanding our customers and rket, trial and error, heaps of y, adaptability, daily judgment nstantly taking controlled risks. jective of Revenue Manage- not to increase occupancy, to push rates. It is finding the alance between the two of them mise revenues. Yes, maximise es! K ennards Self Storage Fortitude Valley is a Heritage listed property which is considered unique due to the still visible original timber beams, timber flooring and saw tooth roof. Many of the other Wool Stores in the area have been converted to housing or office apartments and do not have the same level of visibility. The building was originally the Wool Store “William Haughton &Co” constructed during the Wool Booms of 1913, 1925 and 1934. In late 1979 Neville Kennard purchased the building and opened Easi Store in 1981. Queensland’s first self storage facility. Along with our beautiful old building we boast having the second oldest lift in Queensland. The students were given the task of providing options for the adaptive reuse of the building, specifically considering the impact on the community due to the current economic housing and Covid crises. It was up to the students which direction to choose. One design by student Mellony Weston, The Merino concept, was developed with homeless youths in mind. The space is to help them have a place to call home while providing assistance with mental health struggles and sources to expand skills and knowledge. With the ground floor providing open learning spaces and communal lounges for social interac- tion among staff and residents, and the first and second floor having appropri - ately sized dwellings for the residents with natural light and ventilation. The planned use of space from the students was a little scary to me because vacant space means put a

We were able to spend some time discussing the use of space and how that looks to us in the storage industry vs residential use. Unbeknown to Mellony she had chosen a direction that is similar to the concept of Stepping Stone House, a charity that support youth at risk. I was able to share the Kennards connection to this great charity we have supported since its inception. All in all it was nice to see that our building attracted this unique attention and we were proud to be part of the journey with the students. The students graduate later this year and then we look forward to having next years students visit us in February with Tom.

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