#WodenExperiment Discovery Report Out Now

Get full access to the Discovery Report.

#WodenExperiment is a six-month furniture installation to activate Woden Town Square in Canberra. The aim is to bring more life and joy to this public space for its community.

The project is lead by Street Furniture Australia in partnership with the ACT Government. It began in early 2018 with a 6-week long Discovery phase, to dive deep into the Woden community’s thoughts, feelings and needs.

Following the Discovery phase, which sets up the project brief, Context Landscape Design is working on the design concept for the activation. Research partners will help quantify the effect of the transformation.

The Discovery journey was essential for establishing a user-centred design for this project. The Woden community generously engaged with our surveys in the square and online via StreetChat and the #WodenExperiment Facebook Page, and contributed to a workshop held at Woden Library.

The project was spoken about on ABC Radio Canberra’s Drive program with Jolene Laverty, and presented in the ACT Legislative Assembly by Chris Steel MLA.

Woden Word Cloud, How does the square make you feel?

During the six weeks we observed journeys to and across the square, researched the history of the place, and engaged with key local stakeholders.

All of these activities and research were distilled into six user personas to represent the majority of people who currently visit or pass through Woden square: the Time Out-er, Office Worker, Mum, Retiree, Wanderer and Student.

Issues and opportunities were extrapolated from the survey and workshop participants’ experiences and wishlist. The grand challenge for the activation will be to address:

  • The microclimate, by homifying the place.
  • ‘Grey’-ness, by adding wow factor.
  • Limited activities with a design that provides many reasons to stay.
  • Safety by fostering community ownership and activation across the day and week.
  • Disconnection, by adding wayfinding and technology.

The full journey and findings so far are available in our 67-page Discovery report, ready to view or download now via this form:

Keep up with #WodenExperiment news by joining StreetChat, our monthly e-newsletter. New and existing subscribers can enter our Win A Smart Watch competition until August 30, 2018.

You can also follow the #WodenExperiment Facebook Page.

posted on

  • 17 August 2018, by Editor

topics


make an enquiry

Opening hours are from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

enquire now

recent news

Why choose the original Linea over reproductions?

Successful products are often followed by copycats. Over the past year we have become aware of an increase in reproductions of the Linea range attempting to create a similar aesthetic at a lower price. This can compromise the overall durability and environmental credentials of projects being delivered, affect ongoing maintenance requirements, and in some instances pose a risk of injury to the public. The design of Linea is deceptively simple while delivering exceptional attention to detail. Details matter not only for beauty, but also for providing durability, and safety, that will last decades. Linea strictly uses the highest quality and sustainable materials, has passed rigorous strength tests, and is designed for longevity, with easily replaceable parts. The product range is the result of hundreds of hours of research and development …

  • 26 apr 2024
read more

Street Furniture Australia is now 100% Carbon Neutral

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 …

  • 20 jun 2024
read more

Book a 30-min Climate Action Talk

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 …

  • 19 apr 2024
read more

related news

Applying User-Centred Design to Public Space Activation

Street Furniture Australia has used empathy interviews, personas, observations, journey mapping and other user-centred research techniques to focus Woden Experiment on the community. These qualitative methods unearth rich detail about the lives and needs of people who use Woden Town Square. The aim is to inform the design of the six-month installation with a “community first” philosophy. “We employ user-centred design techniques in the making of our furniture, and #WodenExperiment now offers the opportunity to apply this methodology to public places,” says Mark Armstrong, Street Furniture Australia Design Director. “One of the challenges of public space is meeting the needs of people from many different walks of life. Through our empathy interviews and observations of the town square we have come up with six key personas to design for. “The …

  • 22 may 2018
read more

#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
read more

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
read more