Street Furniture Australia has a long history of design and research collaborations with the University of NSW. Francis McArdle, our Head of Product Design is a Casual Tutor at UNSW – a role which is valuable in maintaining strong ties between our industry and the University. Most recently the Industrial Design teaching staff together with Francis ran a competition for a group of 2nd year students. StreetChat asked Francis to tell us all about it. How did this Street Furniture Australia/UNSW collaboration come about? The competition was held during Term 1 this year, with students from Industrial Design Studio 2A, which I was a casual tutor in supporting the course convenor. Their Studio project was centred on “Design for Public Space,” with students asked to design a new bike rack. …

Linea Planters and Frame Planters are keeping plants healthy while reducing maintenance costs, thanks to wicking beds. Wicking beds by WaterUps save up to 80% of water when compared with traditional drip irrigation. According to WaterUps, watering is only necessary every two weeks in summer, decreasing to four weeks in autumn and six weeks in winter.  Wollongong City Council first installed wicking beds in their planters in 2019. Before installation the Council’s gardeners were watering their plants two to three times a week.  “Now, when it gets warm, we’re probably just doing it once a week, depending on what’s in there and how big the pot is,” says Wollongong Council horticulturist Peter Parsons. There are currently 240 planters across Wollongong CBD maintained by the council, with about 90% watered with …

The New York High Line opened 15 years ago – what lessons has it taught us? This month marks the 15th anniversary of The High Line – New York’s 1.5-mile-long park built on a historical freight line on Manhattan’s west side. The High Line has become an iconic New York place, with planting design by Piet Oudolf. Marking its 15th Anniversary, New York Times writer Margaret Roach explores lessons the The High Line has taught us “With its unique man-made garden beds 30 feet above street level, filled with only an 18-inch layer of soil”. Roach writes, “There are ten horticulturists up there trying to foresee the plants’ every move. They work to respect Mr. Oudolf’s artistic and ecological intentions without being unrealistic about how insistent the forces of natural …