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Nathalie Ward, director of Brisbane’s Lat27, shares with StreetChat her love of the craft, working locally and abroad, and creating a new home for the Ekka. Tell us about yourself. Why did you pursue landscape architecture? Four colleagues and I established Lat27 five years ago, looking to create a practice focused on contextually based design; hence our name. Over the past 20-plus years I have lived and worked in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia and am passionate about the role that design can play in revealing the story of a place and in creating places that are environmentally responsible and inspire people. Landscape architecture is deeply ingrained in my family. My great-grandfather and grandfather were both garden designers and artists, my father was a landscape architect, as is my brother. My earliest memories include nature walks …

Street Furniture Australia held its first major event as support corporate partner of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects on Thursday, 4 September. Designing for Manufacture was held at the brand new showroom and factory in Regents Park in western Sydney. Designing for Manufacture, an industrial design workshop for landscape architects, included informative talks by leading Australian designers Roger Jasprizza and Simon Trick (OCULUS) and Ron Yuen (Street Furniture Australia). The presenters shared their knowledge of industrial design for the public space, covering everything from the sketchpad to the production floor. Forty participants enjoyed access to the new Regents Park facility, experiencing a factory tour and technical presentation of a Concourse seat assembled in 8 minutes. Many participants noted the tour as one of the highlights of the day. A …

Street Furniture Australia (SFA) supported the 50th anniversary of the Paddington Society by donating the first prize in a raffle at the anniversary dinner held at Paddington Town Hall on Monday 11 August. The date was significant in that it was 50 years to the day that the Paddington Society was formed at a meeting in the Town Hall. Concerned residents were opposed to the planned introduction of new arterial roads which would bisect the community and result in the loss of hundreds of terrace houses which make up the heritage fabric of the village. The raffle was drawn by Jack Thompson, famed Australian actor, in the presence of the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore. Both Sir Peter and Jack grew up in Paddington, Jack being …

The kid’s playground at Westmead Children’s Hospital is currently undergoing renovations. The aim of the play space is to highlight the different types of play, various equipment and surfacing products types, the incorporation of the natural environment and native plant species. To show our support for this wonderful initiative, Street Furniture Australia donated three Park Seats to the playground. Click here to view the design and for updates on the progress of the renovations.

The University of NSW Industrial Design program, in conjunction with Street Furniture Australia held a design competition as part of the students’ Sense of Place design studio class. The brief was to design the next generation of public outdoor furniture. Ten top projects were shortlisted by university staff and their designs submitted to be judged by an expert panel from Street Furniture Australia. After a long and gruelling discussion, a unanimous decision was reached and Street Furniture Australia would like to congratulate the following students for their innovative and practical designs. Jan Gerardino Design by jan Gerardino Xiaomeng Shi Design by Xiaomeng Shi Street Furniture Australia will continue to support the UNSW Industrial Design program and can’t wait to see what this year’s group of students come up with.