News & Press — The Sea Is In Our Sights: Alchemy Opens New Branch In Geelong

“Geelong’s growth shows no sign of stopping or slowing down, so the demand for social infrastructure is on the increase. It’s very fitting for us as a purpose-led construction business.”

Geelong has always been an important place for Alchemy, with a number of our staff living in Victoria’s second city and lots of already-successful projects completed in the coastal hub. But today, we are thrilled to announce that we have more than boots on the ground there – we have opened a brand new office! Located in the heart of the town on Brougham Street, our first official Geelong home will work in conjunction with the Melbourne HQ as we spread our wings westwards in Victoria.

Jamie Nicolson, Alchemy’s Co-Founder and Managing Director says, “We’ve actually been in Geelong for three years and have completed some important projects there, so this is a natural next step. It’s an exciting city, it’s fast-growing. And being only an hour from Melbourne, it is a good test for our growth before we move interstate in the coming year or so.”

Proximity to Melbourne and previous projects aside, the expansion into Geelong is also driven by the recent boom in population there, which is only fit to soar in the coming decade. With residential developments sprawling, the need for social infrastructure (our bread and butter) to support these communities is integral. Jamie explains, “Geelong’s growth shows no sign of stopping or slowing down, so the demand for social infrastructure is on the increase. It’s very fitting for us as a purpose-led construction business.” And in addition to the naturally growing population, there is also the exciting event coming in 2026 that will see the building of more community sites, “We do like the fact that the Commonwealth Games is coming to Geelong! There’s going to be a huge hike in infrastructure and we want to be part of it.”

“It’s really exciting to launch our new base and HQ in Geelong. When you’ve been brought up in the area, to watch the investment and see the region flourishing it gives you a lot of pride.”

A few long-term team members that live in Geelong will now be working from their local Alchemy hub – and we’re delighted we can help shorten their commutes and contribute further to a city that has already given us so much opportunity. Heading up operations will be Christian O’Malley and Clayton Allen Ankins, who have established relationships with subcontractors in the area.

“It’s really exciting to launch our new base and HQ in Geelong. When you’ve been brought up in the area, to watch the investment and see the region flourishing it gives you a lot of pride. For Alchemy to now be such a firm part of that development and for us to have a base in Geelong –  it’s incredible. We are a purpose led company, and supporting Geelong’s social infrastructure build is something our team are so excited to get to work on.  We have a number of projects in the area, and we look forward to continuing to build great relationships with our sub-contractors and clients in the region, to construct some incredible spaces.”

Aside from the wealth of opportunity that Geelong holds for Alchemy and our staff, being in Geelong is also about embedding ourselves in a community that has been so good to us. Jamie explains, “We’ve been working down there for years with no real presence and the reputation of being a Melbourne builder. We want to establish relationships with local trades down there and get behind them – you can’t really do that from Melbourne. Certainly, we can support it from HQ up in Melbourne, but it’s not the same.”

Further to the office, Alchemy has also plans to kick off a number of CSR programmes in the area which will be launching in the coming weeks. Although we can’t talk about the details just yet, Jamie explains the thinking behind the programmes. “I think business has a responsibility to do good things, rather than just build and walk away, what else can we do as a company in those towns and regions where we build to help address some of the social issues that exist?”

And it’s not just Jamie that’s on board, the Alchemy team are on board too. “We have an incredible ‘values-led’ team.” Jamie continues, “Our people think very similarly on issues of social disadvantage. In fact, the reason a huge number of them work at Alchemy is that they want to build social impact projects. They have worked across different sectors of construction but there is often the sentiment that the community projects that we do are more rewarding for them.”

Speaking of rewards, we’re off for a seaside stroll and a lunchtime choc-top.