Mirvac No.1 Innovative Property Company

Mirvac topped its Property, Transport and Construction category of the annual list, which is based on a rigorous assessment process that measures a top innovation implemented in the past 12 months.

Mirvac’s General Manager of Innovation, Christine Gilroy, said the award is based on an assessment of the internal innovation program, the results from a staff survey about culture and the value of one idea that has been executed.

“We submitted our urban farm initiative, Cultivate, which is a partnership between Mirvac and Farmwall, a start-up that creates natural, food producing ecosystems in urban spaces. Cultivate was born out of an idea to transform dead spaces, like basements and community areas and to give workers a unique opportunity to engage with nature in our urban environment,” she said.

“We now have two thriving locations; one at 200 George Street and another at Westpac’s head office in Kent Street, Sydney. These were virtually obsolete spaces that are now green sanctuaries for office workers. We have also established they can provide a revenue stream by selling the microgreens to local cafes.”

Farmwall’s Co-Founder Serena Lee said since the launch in 2018 the initiative had showed value in decreasing the stress levels of office workers, increasing the availability of locally farmed, fresh produce in urban areas and educating people about growing produce sustainably.

“Over 90 per cent of Cultivate visitors rated their experience as good or great. People on average showed an improvement in mood of 84 per cent and a reduction in stress of 75 per cent,” she said.

“Using a combination of aquaponics and hydroponics, a variety of different microgreens and leafy greens are available to local chefs who can drop in and harvest them in the morning to be served fresh that day.

Ms Gilroy said Farmwall was one of three start-ups Hatch was working with, focussing across construction tech, agri-tech and retail.

“We now have 25 per cent of the Mirvac workforce trained in our Hatch methodology and involved in over 60 business projects that focus on Mirvac’s customer centric culture.

“Whether it is our successful Shopping Nanny program, our co-working spaces or our pop-up farms we are focussed on solving customer pain points and increasing value for Mirvac."

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