Broadcasting from a shipping container studio in South Fremantle in the city of Perth, Western Australia, independent not-for-profit community radio station Freocast shares music and storytelling by local voices.
A passion project for Fremantle architect and long-serving community radio broadcaster Nick Juniper, the online station is supported by volunteers and local partners to broadcast a range of community-based shows and DJ mixes, and hosts events onsite.
Juniper says the station creates a connective space: “Fremantle has a very strong, engaged and passionate community, and I created Freocast as a way of providing an opportunity for a wide variety of voices and opinions to have a chance to broadcast,” he told StreetChat.
“We also felt strongly about creating a physical space where the community could come together, connect, listen to music and enjoy community spirit.”
Juniper was inspired by ‘The Lot’ radio station in New York City, which also operates from a vacant lot within a modified shipping container. “Being a port city, I felt like this concept would work really well in Fremantle,” said Juniper.
To support the creation of a ‘third place’ for locals, Street Furniture Australia has donated a picnic setting for the forecourt parklet.
The Mall Setting with Mall Seat and Bench features anodised aluminium battens, which will stay cool in summer, with frames in Brilliant Yellow, Sensation Orange and Lobster Red to match the Freocast colours.
Juniper said, “The furniture donated from Street Furniture Australia has provided the finishing touch to the Freocast Parklet. We were able to use the custom coloured components to match the Freocast brand to create a friendly and comfortable place for people to sit and hang out.”
The Street Furniture Australia 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 run fun and informative group events for customers throughout the year, to share how products are designed, tested and built, and the latest products and projects. Director of Tract Julie Lee said: “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 about the design and manufacturing process of public furniture we use in landscape architecture design. Seeing the work behind the scenes and …
Did you catch these most-read case studies, furnishing tips, new product announcements and special industry events in your StreetChat updates in 2023? Each month our StreetChat enewsletter publishes new projects, products and trends from the public domain; subscribe to receive it in your inbox. 10. Which design firm can see Longhorn Cattle from their office window? 2 countries. 9 cities. 300 landscape architects. Street Furniture Australia and USA partner Spruce & Gander visited offices in Australia and Texas. There were key similarities and some notable standouts. 9. Jazz at The Mint: Product and Book Launch Sydney landscape architects gathered at the iconic Mint Courtyard to launch a design book by our founding directors Darrel Conybeare and Bill Morrison, and expansions to the Linea collection. 8. 2023 Good Cause Giveaway goes to …
Street Furniture Australia has designed and built prototype charging stands as part of a Transport for NSW program to deliver free phone chargers at 15 Sydney train stations. Developed by Street Furniture Australia’s inhouse industrial designers in collaboration with Transport for NSW, the prototypes offer wireless, USB-A and USB-C charging, and can power 7 devices at once. They were built at the Street Furniture Australia factory in Western Sydney. Two Power Spots are now installed at Liverpool and Campbelltown stations. The $1 million Power Spots Project rollout to 15 transport hubs including Bankstown, Hurstville, Lidcombe, Penrith, Wynyard, Central, Town Hall and Bondi Junction will be completed by late 2024. NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the Power Spots provide peace of mind: “In the modern world, our phones are our …
Cumberland City Council, the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and Street Furniture Australia in November co-hosted a factory tour and knowledge exchange for Councils about creating great public spaces and local manufacturing. Guest speakers presented enriching case studies and conversations about Country, climate, culture and community at the Street Furniture Australia factory, which is located within the Cumberland LGA in Western Sydney. 55 people attended the event. Head of Marketing and Innovation with Street Furniture Australia, June Lee Boxsell, said, “Activating Western Sydney was a fantastic opportunity to share ideas on bringing joy to our local communities while also celebrating the completion of Merrylands Civic Square — a remarkable human-centred development at the heart of Cumberland City Council. “With Street Furniture Australia positioned right at the doorstep of Western Sydney-based …
Street Furniture Australia has donated $45k of Linea show-products to Baptist Care SA’s WestCare Centre, a project nominated by Swanbury Penglase, as part of the Good Cause Giveaway for the 2023 Festival of Landscape Architecture: UN/EARTH. Now in its third year, the 2023 Good Cause Giveaway received six fantastic entries from landscape architects and Councils for local Adelaide projects, with the winner selected by the UN/EARTH Festival Creative Directorate. The jury said: “The Festival creative directors found awarding this year’s Street Furniture Australia’s (extremely generous) Good Cause Giveaway a difficult task as all of the entries were very worthy.” Winners Swanbury Penglase with 2023 AILA Festival Creative Directorate. Photo: Frankie The Creative. “We were particularly conscious of the incredible work that the team of volunteers at Baptist Care SA’s WestCare …
Charlene Bordley (photo: right), the visionary founder of Parramatta Bike Hub, Parramatta Bike Tours and Addventageous, creates programs for ‘hard-to-reach’ groups including First Nations communities, women, seniors and disadvantaged youth. She met with StreetChat writer Kari Hill at the new home of the Parramatta Bike Hub on Wangal country, along the Parramatta River in Sydney Olympic Park. Charlene’s passion for making a difference in the community can be seen across the many social enterprise programs she runs. Wearing her uniform of blue, yellow and green, each colour symbolises a program: Blue for Addventageous, Yellow for Parramatta Bike Tours and Green for the Parramatta Bike Hub. Social enterprise Addventageous started off as a school program when Charlene gained confidence as a returning cyclist later in life. She experienced the benefits of …
