The Company Without Limits

One set of innovations involved the construction process. The Bluewater team hired 400 construction workers off the long-term unemployment rolls. In partnership with local training agencies, the team also created the Bluewater Foundation, which provided skills to 8,200 construction workers.

Bluewater not only digitized the construction site, by installing an intranet for automating the contract-approval process; it also humanized the construction area. Workers were asked what benefits they would most like to have on-site -- a question they had never been asked before -- and ended up with benefits ranging from an on-site chaplain to state-of-the-art showers to a diverse set of catering option. The surrounding community, meanwhile, benefited from the creation of the Bluewater Pages, a directory of prequalified local businesses (including everything form accounting firms to window cleaners) -- which made it easy for the more than 40 contractors working on-site to employ locals.

A year away from the project's due date, the Foundation shifted its focus from developing construction skills to providing comprehensive, ongoing education for those who would hold the 7,000 permanent retail jobs created by the center. The idea, says Kuhne, was not just to train retail workers for casual jobs but also to help them jump-start their careers. The UK-based team also recruited key project managers from across the Lend Lease organization. These people, in turn, recruited dozens of twentysomethings, who assisted established brands and mom-and-pop stores alike in aligning their retail approach to the Bluewater Factors.

Debbie McNamara, for example, was plucked from a customer-service project at MLC to take responsibility for guiding a group of retailers from lease to grand opening in less than a year. Her tools: a diverse team of external designers (one for each retailer) and a refined delivery process that guided the retailers through each critical stage. "It was slightly intimidating to go to established brands like HMV and say, 'Okay, now you've got to raise the bard and buy into these Bluewater Factors,'" says McNamara. But not only did HMV revamp its standard storefront and create a dramatic visual landmark; it also delivered on its part of the project in just a few months. In the end, 200 of Bluewater's 320 retailers either introduced a new design concept or created a design that was unique to this development.

For Lend Lease, the legacy of Bluewater extends beyond its successful completion. Projects at the company always have two deliverables: the project itself, and new project-management talent. "Projects are a great way to flush out latent capabilities and leadership talent," says Latham. "With our highest-profile projects especially, we generate two or three teams in the course of a project and then send them out to run other big projects. That way, we also generate new project leaders."

A week after the opening ceremony at Bluewater, for example, half a dozen Bluewater project managers boarded a plane bound for Seville, Spain, where they began to scout out Lend Lease's next big European retail venture. Other members of the Bluewater team have scattered to early-stage Lend Lease projects that will focus on redeveloping the town centers of Solihull, in the British Midlands, and Dundee, in Scotland.

With each new project, Lend Lease continues to defy limits. "We are always looking at the stars," says Latham, "even as we keep our eyes on budgets and time and other rigorous metrics. That's the power of Lend Lease. That's why we're able to move quickly and confidently, and to make bets on things like that chalk pit in Kent."

Polly LaBarre (plabarre@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior editor, for information on Lend Lease Corp., email Malcom Latham (malcom_latham@lendlease.com.au) or Ann McCallum (ann_mccallum@lendlease.com.au), or visit the web (www.lendlease.com.au). Except where noted, all financial data in this article have been converted to U.S. dollars.