Calwell is located close to the Monaro Highway which provides a direct route to Canberra City and to Cooma.

The centre was developed in the early 1990s to serve Calwell, Richardson, Theodore and Isabella Plains.

Prior to the development of the Lanyon Market Place in the late 1990s, the Calwell Centre also serviced Conder, Banks and Gordon.

Corpus Christi Catholic Parish, based in Gowrie, runs services in the hall at St Francis of Assisi Primary School.

Deakin Volcanics green grey and purple rhyodacite of Silurian age form the base rock of Calwell.