Street Furniture Australia presents at LPA Design Studios’ Summit
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 of a Chair begins with the 2016 ‘Backyard Experiment’ – the largest research project Street Furniture Australia has done – and follows the evolution in the design of The Piatto Chair – the new outdoor seat that blurs the line between cafe chair and robust public domain seating,
June also shared our carbon neutral journey, the science based and meticulous measuring process we have undertaken over a period of five years to calculate our factory and organisational emissions, culminating in Street Furniture Australia becoming certified carbon neutral, through Climate Active.
The forensic investigations we carried out revealed which parts of our process are the most emissions heavy, and where we would achieve the greatest emissions reductions through changing our manufacturing processes year on year.
Read more about ‘The Backyard Experiment’ – an urban activation pop-up to introduce movable seating, with colour and yarn bombing to Garema Place, Canberra.
Street Furniture Australia’s entire product range and manufacturing operation has received carbon neutral certification through Climate Active™. Achieving carbon neutral certification marks a significant milestone in our operation and the culmination of a four year long process of detailed measurement and analysis. Climate Active™ is the only Australian government-backed carbon neutral certification programme for businesses to measure, reduce, and offsets their carbon emissions. It is one of the most rigorous carbon-neutral programs in the world. An approved Emissions Reduction Strategy (ERS) is central to achieving certification through Climate Active. Street Furniture Australia has elected to use SBTi validated science-based targets to ensure their ERS is meaningful and aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement – to limit global temperature rises to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels. For those emissions that can’t be …
Linea Bin is the newest addition to Street Furniture Australia’s minimalist Linea range. Built from stainless steel for strength, durability and a refined aesthetic, it has been thoughtfully designed with input from landscape architects and waste managers to deliver hygiene, accessibility and sustainability in the public realm. Built to LastA robust stainless steel frame and panel system ensures Linea Bin performs in high-traffic environments. A full-height stainless steel 316 piano hinge and splash tray provide exceptional strength, hygiene and corrosion resistance, withstanding daily impacts from trolleys and cleaning equipment. “Durability was paramount,” says Pearson Bulmer, Senior Industrial Designer at Street Furniture Australia. “Every detail needed to perform in the public realm for years to come – but also be designed for disassembly so parts can be repaired, replaced or recycled …
With the look and feel of natural timber, backed by 12 months of performance testing for the public realm, engineered wood joins Street Furniture Australia’s selection of batten materials. Designers and place custodians can now choose from three batten options to achieve a timber look: natural Spotted Gum hardwood, low maintenance aluminium Wood Without Worry, and engineered wood known as Onewood HRT. What is engineered wood?Onewood HRT (Homogeneous Reconstituted Timber) is a solid engineered timber, made from fast-growing FSC and PEFC-certified poplar and eucalyptus fibres that are compressed under heat and pressure with a resin binder. It is solid throughout with an organic grain and, like real hardwood, can be sanded to refresh. Street Furniture Australia partners with a Singapore-based supplier, with timber fibres sourced from eco-certified plantations in Vietnam …
