Childcare centres in the CBD areas of Australia’s cities are preparing for a fresh wave of interest as growing numbers of office workers return to their desks.
CBD childcare was impacted by the dramatic shift to working from home during the COVID pandemic, and the subsequent rise of hybrid working.
Despite this, Guardian Childcare & Education Chief Operating Officer Martin Knell says inner city centres are now well placed for two growing markets.
These included parents progressively returning to office environments and wanting their children close to their workplaces, and the increasing number of young families living in inner-city apartments.
“Most of our CBD centres were born in a pre-COVID world when demand for what we call ‘destination centres’ was really strong,” Mr Knell said.
“The idea is simple – parents, very often mums with young babies, wanted their children close to where they worked.
“It meant they could pop in during the day, join in for a special moment or, with the very little ones, come by for a breastfeeding break. That is a wonderful thing to be able to offer a family.”
Mr Knell said, despite the post-COVID rise of hybrid work and working from home, many of Guardian’s CBD centres were “absolutely thriving”
These included centres like Phillip Street in Sydney and Newstead in Brisbane which had a strong mix of office-worker families and young families living in CBD apartments.
Guardian operates CBD and inner-city centres in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide.
The CBD childcare advantages
Mr Knell said one of their major advantages was proximity, particularly for parents of babies and young children.
“The big strength is ‘convenience with heart’,” he said.
“Your child is a lift ride away from your desk, or a short walk from your apartment if you live in the city. For a working parent, that closeness is priceless.”
Creating great indoor-outdoor spaces
CBD centres face the challenge of creating the type of outdoor play environments normally associated with suburban childcare centres.
Guardian uses terraces, rooftops and specially designed “indoor-outdoor” areas to provide alternatives, with its Queen Street centre in Brisbane including sandpits and a “Rainforest Retreat” inside the building.
“Where CBD centres get really interesting is outdoors – or what counts as outdoors when you are several floors up in an office building,” Mr Knell said.
“Our teams get creative: big terraces, rooftop play spaces, and what we call ‘indoor-outdoor’ spaces, where an enclosed area is shaped and planted so it feels like a garden.”
Mr Knell said, with these centres, the city itself became part of the learning environment, with museums, libraries and other attractions within walking distance for excursions.
Pram parking centres
Most CBD families walked to their centres or arrived by public transport, making pram storage particularly important.
“I won’t pretend parking in the city is as easy as at our suburban centres, but every one of our CBD centres has drop-off and pick-up arrangements in place,” Mr Knell said.
“The reality, though, is that most CBD families walk in or arrive by train or bus – so ‘pram parking’ is in far higher demand than car parking. All of our centres offer it: parents leave the pram with us in the morning and collect it in the evening, together with their child.”
A calm environment in a busy area
Despite their location, Mr Knell said CBD centres were designed to create a calm environment removed from the noise and activity outside.
“When you step into one of our CBD centres, you enter a world of its own,” he said.
“You quickly forget you are in the middle of a busy city, until you catch one of the amazing views out of the window!
“Beyond that, our city centres are just like all of our centres, with age-appropriate rooms and structured learning programs.
“You can always recognise a great early learning centre by how calm and well organised it feels, and that is because the children are nurtured, engaged in something interesting and connected with their educators. Our CBD centres are no different.”
Guardian in the city
Brisbane: Queen Street, King Street and Newstead.
Sydney: George Street, Phillip Street and Barangaroo.
Melbourne: Collins Street, South Melbourne and South Yarra.
Canberra: Allara Street.
Adelaide: Flinders Street.
To book at tour of any of these centres click here
