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ACT Government

#BackyardExperiment

***** Click here for final results of #BackyardExperiment ***** #BackyardExperiment is our most ambitious research project yet. Collaborating with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, Street Furniture Australia will attempt to activate Garema Place in Canberra through a pop-up park and 60 movable seats. Garema Place was a cosmopolitan hotspot in the sixties and seventies, but has since become a deserted thoroughfare. The open space is largely concrete and underused, however, it is surrounded by great cafes, shops and workplaces. Over a ten-day period, time-lapse cameras will observe how people interact with the park and furniture elements. The first two days will examine no activation, the next four days will observe activities with park and furniture elements only, and the final four days will discover what happens with full activation, which includes …

  • 17 oct 2016
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White Paper: #BackyardExperiment

60 movable seats. 8 days. 1 location. Time-lapse footage from the #BackyardExperiment pop-up park in Garema Place, an underused thoroughfare in Canberra’s CBD, has revealed stunning findings about the power of small interventions to transform public space. A 10-Minute Documentary (below) and White Paper are available now. Download the FREE White Paper: #BackyardExperiment (49 pages, 8MB) Before #BackyardExperiment, 97% of visitors passed through the grey, hard Garema Place without stopping. The project softened the space with colour, lawn, seating and light, and, in just eight days, Visitor numbers almost doubled. Street Furniture Australia partnered with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, the ACT Government, In the City Canberra, landscape architecture firm Context and a host of suppliers and community volunteers to make the project happen. See how together the team increased dwellers by more than 200%, and …

  • 14 dec 2016
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Unpacking #BackyardExperiment with AILA

Seven partners from the team that brought #BackyardExperiment to Garema Place met with landscape architects in Canberra to unpack the collaboration and shout the results from AILA’s rooftop. June Boxsell, Marketing Manager with Street Furniture Australia, joined MC Jane Easthope from In The City Canberra, Darren Mansfield from Context, the ACT Government’s City Activation Manager Caitlin Bladin, Anthony Linard from ACT Lighting Society, Alena Leonardi from WE-EF LIGHTING, Dave Raison from Lawn Solutions Australia and AILA CEO Shahana McKenzie. “#BackyardExperiment was a small project that produced big results. We have proof now that this combination of seats, art, colour, lighting and lawn, almost doubled visitation to Garema Place,” said June Boxsell. “What was most eye-opening was the new mix of people. To me it was a visual feast. There was …

  • 19 apr 2017
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Woden Experiment to Activate Square

Street Furniture Australia, with support from the ACT Government, has begun the Discovery phase for #WodenExperiment, a six-month furniture installation to activate Woden Town Square in Canberra. Members of the community, local businesses and politicians gathered to discuss the project and share their experiences of the square at a workshop held in March. Around 40 participants brainstormed issues and opportunities for the square around Retail Experience, Community Involvement, Comfort and Amenity, and Wow Factor. “It was exciting to see so many people filling the room, with a great mix of people from community, business and local government creating an atmosphere of high energy and interest,” says Diana Hill, Manager Capital Works – Urban with Transport Canberra and City Services. “As a result many great ideas about issues and opportunities were discovered …

  • 6 apr 2018
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#WodenExperiment on ABC Radio

ABC Radio Canberra’s Jolene Laverty chats with Street Furniture Australia’s June Boxsell about #WodenExperiment on Drive. The following is a transcript of the program, which aired on Wednesday April 4, 2018. JL. The social project that has increased foot traffic in Garema Place by 200% is going to be replicated in Woden. June Boxsell is the Design and Marketing manager of Street Furniture Australia and she runs these programs, hi June. JB. Hi there, thank you for having me. JL. Thank you for joining us. So it’s called the #WodenExperiment and it’s based on the very successful #BackyardExperiment, which was held in Garema Place a few years ago. Can you just take us back to 2016 and remind us what the Garema Place experiment was? JB. The #BackyardExperiment was a …

  • 13 apr 2018
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Woden Experiment in the ACT Legislative Assembly

Following the Woden Experiment Workshop, Chris Steel updated the ACT Legislative Assembly about the project. Below is a transcript of his speech. You can also watch the video on Facebook. Chris Steel: “I talk a lot in this place about Woden Town Centre, and I’m going to talk about it again today, because it is exciting to see change taking place in the town centre, the new residential developments, the light rail stage two on its way, and a new focus on placemaking in the centre now as well. “While many of the spaces in Woden are privately owned, those under ACT Government control present an opportunity for improvement and activation, particularly Woden Town Square. “On the 26th of March, Woden Library played host for the #WodenExperiment town hall, kicking …

  • 17 apr 2018
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