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A new UK report into 'Highway Greening - Best Practice and Lessons Learnt' by LDA Designs, and UN-Habitat produces a Toolkit to improve our public spaces that encourages community engagement.

Key themes of this year’s AILA National Awards were connection to country, sustainability, and leadership. Held in Melbourne, 43 winners were selected by the National Awards Jury, consisting of landscape architects and built environment academics from across the country. Street Furniture Australia sponsored the Civic Landscape award. GLAS Landscape Architects collaborated with ASPECT Studios, Lyons, Koning Eizenberg Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Greenaway + Greenshoot and Architects EAT on the award winning Student Precinct at The University of Melbourne. The precinct features a central amphitheatre, entry gateway, lawn, and a new entry space from Grattan Street. Local materials like mudstone and Victorian stone were incorporated into the design.Thorough research revealed the lost Bouverie Creek, bringing it back to the surface. The story of eel migration within the stormwater system was illustrated …

Street Furniture Australia’s factory in Regents Park, Western Sydney, is both a manufacturing hub and R&D studio for our Australian-designed and made street furniture products. We host fun and informative factory tours for customers throughout the year, to show how our products are designed, tested and built, and to share our latest products and projects. This is a free group event catering to landscape architects, architects, and asset managers from government agencies. Director of Tract Julie Lee said of the tour: “It was a great opportunity for our team to look behind the scenes and understand the innovation, research and climate positive outcomes Street Furniture Australia is focusing on. Thank you for having us!” Place Design Group Associate, Liam Isaksen said: “The factory tour is a fun experience to learn …

June Lee Boxsell spoke to landscape architects and engineers about Australian innovation and climate action at the recent LPA Design Studio summit in Irvine, California. Another wonderful collaboration with our US distributor partner Spruce and Gander. Using analogous insight, June drew parallels between the collaborative relationship of industrial designers and engineers at Street Furniture Australia to the very similar relationship between landscape architects and civil engineers at LPA Design Studio. During an hour long interactive presentation, June demonstrated the critical interactions and back and forth between design and engineering teams, from early inspiration and market research, through design, material testing, prototyping and the many rounds of product testing prior to going to market. To illustrate our process for designing and manufacturing furniture, June shared The Story of a Chair. The Story …

Designers Elisapeta Heta, Jade Kake and Raukura Turei on Kaupapa Māori design for climate Ataria Sharman, editor of Assemble Papers, connects with three designers to explore Kaupapa (way) Māori as a solution to our climate crises. Principal at Jasmax, Elisapeta Heta speaks of ‘climate resilience’ and ‘sustainability’ as Pākehā or white terms, preferring ‘kaitiakitanga’ (meaning guardianship), as a better way of looking at our relationship to our natural environment. An Indigenous approach to design is about the kaitiakitanga, understanding that all of life is connected and that humans are not superior to the natural world, we are part of it. Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) brings land and life together rather than separating them.  Sharman writes, “Kaitiakitanga projects offer a more holistic approach, such as understanding people as part of the land …

Our Presentation Specialists bring a fun, interactive and informative workshop about our carbon neutral journey and latest products to your office. In 30 minutes (plus Q&A) you will explore materials and finishes, touch and feel samples, and bond with your colleagues over delicious treats in the comfort of your office. There will also be a mystery prize for a lucky winner (optional). ‘The presentation content was informative, engaging, interactive and relevant. Genuinely one of the better supplier workshops! It was efficient yet insightful. The interactive nature of it enhanced engagement with the team,’ Sam Westlake, Senior Associate, Hassell, Sydney. ‘Possibly our favourite product presentation to date! Engaging, great content and appreciated the physical samples and prototypes,’ Alexa Ongoco, Senior Landscape Architect, TCL, Brisbane. ‘Thorough presentation with actual product to see and …