Podium
Pioneering the Future of Construction
Founded in the 1950s, Lendlease is a globally recognized leader in urban development, with a presence across various sectors, all connected to the construction industry. What sets Lendlease apart is its end-to-end business model, which spans the entire life cycle of a building:
- Design & Planning – From individual buildings to entire precincts (e.g., Barangaroo), Lendlease designs cutting-edge spaces, including stadiums, hospitals, prisons, and residential developments.
- Procurement & Supply Chain – With a portfolio of trusted suppliers, they ensure that large-scale projects have the right materials at the right time.
- Logistics & Delivery – Coordinating the transport and timely arrival of goods to construction sites.
- Construction & Site Management – Overseeing projects from the ground up, managing both workers and resources.
- Building Operations & Maintenance – Once completed, Lendlease continues to manage buildings, ensuring their long-term functionality and sustainability.
The Birth of Podium – A Digital Transformation
Over time, Lendlease developed a suite of internal software tools to assist their employees in streamlining construction operations. In 2018, they took a major leap forward, consolidating these tools into a cloud-based platform: Podium. This digital ecosystem was designed not only for internal teams but also for suppliers, partners, and stakeholders in the broader real estate industry.
Podium enables real-time coordination of construction logistics, helping industry professionals manage every aspect of the development process, from supply chain management to site operations.
My Role: Designing of Construction Logistics in Podium
At Lendlease, I played a key role in designing the user interface for the goods delivery system, a crucial part of Podium that provided end-to-end visibility over construction site logistics.
My work focused on:
- Goods Delivery Tracking – Allowing users to see real-time delivery statuses, estimated arrival times, and dock bookings.
- Crane & Receiving Dock Coordination – Designing tools for scheduling deliveries, booking cranes, and managing receiving bays to optimize site efficiency.
- User-Centric Research – Conducting interviews with construction workers, site managers, and suppliers to understand their pain points and workflows.
- Real-Time Updates & Modifications – Creating an intuitive interface that allowed users to modify schedules and track deliveries dynamically.
One of the biggest challenges was designing “vertical delivery” logistics, ensuring that goods not only arrived at the right time but were lifted by cranes to the correct floor in a coordinated, step-by-step process.
Collaboration & Leadership
As the Lead Designer for the Sydney team, I worked in close collaboration with teams across the world, especially with the one in Singapore, to refine and deliver a scalable, efficient, and user-friendly logistics management system. I also took on a mentorship role, managing interns within the Sydney Design Team, and serving as a key liaison between product, engineering, and operations teams across the organization.
Fun fact: Before working at Lendlease, I had no idea that cranes at construction sites had to be booked in advance. That became one of the most interesting challenges I tackled!
E.g.: Suppliers needed clear instructions on when to deliver goods to the construction site and which receiving bay to use. After delivery, a crane had to be scheduled for pickup, but only after the designated site personnel inspected and approved the goods. Once verified, the "vertical delivery" could proceed, ensuring materials reached the right floor at the right time. Podium allows the Suppliers, the Construction Site Manager, and the Workers to have visibility of all this information at any time.
Conclusions
Ultimately, our work transformed construction logistics at Lendlease, allowing suppliers, site managers, and workers to coordinate seamlessly, reducing inefficiencies, and improving the accuracy and speed of deliveries.
