Lendlease is a global real estate and investment group with core expertise in shaping cities and creating strong and connected communities. The company, which operates across investments, development and construction, adopted its current visual identity in 2015 when it rebranded from Lend Lease to the single word Lendlease. The rebrand introduced a new logo known as the “fold,” replacing the company’s previous blue canopy mark that had been in use for 20 years.
Design and History
Lendlease launched its original blue “canopy” logo in 1995, at a time when the company had just won the contract to expand Sydney Airport for the 2000 Olympics, received approval to begin construction on Bluewater in the UK, and purchased the Yarmouth Group in New York.[1]
On 26 May 2015, Lend Lease unveiled a new look and brand presence described as “a design for the future.” The company announced it would progressively move from the 20-year-old blue canopy logo into a new era with a mark known as the “fold,” which featured a changed hero colour to green.[2] The rebrand also joined the company’s name into a single word, Lendlease.[3]
STW’s strategic brand and design agency Houston drove the rebranding project, which began in early 2014.[4] Houston described the new identity as “a multi-dimensional identity – ‘The Fold’, an organically changing form that represents the forever changing and adapting business that is Lendlease.”[5]
Lendlease Group CEO and managing director Steve McCann described the new logo as “fluid and flexible” to suit the company’s range of projects across sectors and countries.[4] The brand roll-out was funded from existing operational budgets and implemented over the following 24 months.[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
The fold mark was designed to reflect Lendlease’s evolution as a contemporary, diverse and international business.[3] The new identity was created to provide “a unique identity that stretches from consumer to business, enterprise to government partnerships and local to international markets.”[4]
The previous blue canopy logo was widely referred to as the “blue umbrella,” a description McCann acknowledged when he said, “After 20 years, we bid a fond farewell to the blue umbrella and welcome the ‘fold’.”[6]
Typography and Design
The 2015 rebrand changed the company’s name from two words, Lend Lease, to the single word Lendlease, a move described as an update “for the internet era.”[6] The new identity featured a changed hero colour from blue to green.[2]
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