REConstruct

In early 2020, bushfires had torn through communities across Australia. Sporting clubs, community halls, and local organisations were left with damaged infrastructure and stretched resources. REC Group, one of the world’s leading solar manufacturers, responded with a concrete offer: free solar systems, fully installed, for eligible community organisations in affected areas. The site we built was how that offer reached the people it was meant for.

The client

REConstruct was an initiative by REC Group, backed by a consortium of solar industry partners including Fronius, SMA, SolarJuice, and BayWa r.e. The program made approximately 50 solar systems available, each around 6.5kW, fully installed at no cost to eligible community organisations in bushfire-affected regions. Sporting clubs, community facilities, and similar organisations could apply through a deliberately low-touch process designed to avoid the kind of bureaucratic burden that often discourages people from accessing recovery support.

The challenge

A program like this only works if the people it’s designed for can find it, understand it quickly, and trust it enough to apply. REC Group is a credible global brand, but the REConstruct initiative was new, time-sensitive, and targeting communities that had just been through a significant trauma. The site needed to communicate clearly and quickly: what the program was, who was eligible, how to apply, and what to expect.

It also needed to manage a structured process. There were eligibility criteria, an application form, a list of approved installers, an assessment process, and a timeline, all of which had to be presented in a way that felt accessible rather than bureaucratic, without glossing over the detail that applicants actually needed.

What we built

A custom WordPress site built to move fast and communicate clearly

We built the site on WordPress with a fully custom theme, designed to match the initiative’s identity while keeping the focus firmly on the information a visitor needed to act. The navigation is structured around the applicant’s journey: about the program, eligibility criteria, how to apply, the assessment process, and timelines. Each step is its own page, which makes the process feel manageable rather than overwhelming.

Downloadable resources, the application form and the list of approved installers and eligible councils, are surfaced prominently throughout the site rather than buried in a single downloads section. For someone arriving with a specific task in mind, that reduces friction at exactly the point where friction costs the most.

Built for trust as much as information

A free program run by a corporate entity can raise questions for community organisations who have learned to be cautious about offers that sound too good. The site addresses that directly through its supporting content. Case studies show real organisations that received systems. Media coverage from credible outlets is collected in one place. Partner logos from established industry names appear throughout. None of this is accidental. For a program asking community groups to invest time in an application process, building confidence in the legitimacy of the offer was as important as explaining the mechanics of it.

The result

REConstruct launched in 2020 and allocated its full allocation of systems to bushfire-affected communities across Australia. The site served as the primary channel through which community organisations found, understood, and applied for the program, supporting a national initiative that delivered tangible, practical support to communities at a difficult time.

Working on something similar?

If you’re running a program, initiative, or campaign that needs a site built quickly and clearly around a specific audience and purpose, get in touch and we can talk through what that might look like.