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Bill Morrison and Darrel Conybeare, co-founders and directors of Street Furniture Australia, are celebrating 40 years of design practice with their architecture and urban design studio, CM+. The two young architects, shaped by formative experiences in the US and UK working with major players such as Eames, William Holford & Partners and the Farrell/Grimshaw Partnership – started their own venture in 1980 to shape cities through the still-fledgling practice of urban design. Their work includes the redesign of Macquarie Street and Circular Quay in Sydney for the 1988 Bicentennial, designing prominent Canberra spaces such as City Walk, universities in China and Kuching Waterfront in Malaysia. Bill and Darrel’s philosophy considers how a design might discover a the urban pulse and heritage of a city, reveal its urban character, and recognise …

Street Furniture Australia is visiting the United States in February, with international sales representative Juanita Marlowe touring Los Angeles and San Francisco.The visit kicked off in the city of angels with a Lunch and Learn session at a leading landscape architecture practice, where the #BackyardExperiment 10-minute documentary film was received with interest. Screening of #BackyardExperiment. Juanita’s presentation. Each guest received a healthy lunch hamper from Lemonade, while hearing from Juanita about inspiring smart city and activation projects taking place in Australia, and the exciting range of products that can be exported to the US. The sales team is also looking forward to sharing these stories at the ASLA Annual Meeting in San Diego in November, after successfully debuting Aria at the 2018 conference and expo. Juanita could not resist taking a snap …

Classic Plaza Seats mirror the colours of the landscape in this award-winning playground design. Jubilee Playground by Sue Barnsley Design has been awarded the Medal for Landscape Architecture at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW 2014 Awards. The playground, in Glebe’s Bicentennial Park in Sydney, is a whimsical community space for children; nicknamed ‘the lost world’ by its creators; meeting the increasing demand for inner city families to access outdoor play spaces. Street Furniture Australia provided a number of colourful Classic Plaza Seats for the playground, in keeping with the pre-existing seating nearby. Sue Barnsley says, “Throughout the design of Jubilee Playground we were conscious of reusing and renovating site furniture and play equipment. So we built on the existing pattern of Street Furniture Australia seats that edged Northcote …

The Tyabb Cricket Club continues to mourn the tragic loss of its young member, Luke Batty, who died on its grounds in February 2014. In honour of Luke’s life, the Tyabb community have raised almost $120,000 to rebuild the cricket nets and erect a walk-through memorial garden where the club’s practise facilities formerly stood. It offers a peaceful place for the community to remember Luke. Street Furniture Australia (SFA) donated two Mall seats to the memorial garden. The project was officially opened on 14 November and Eddie Dowers, a member of SFA’s sales team, attended the event in support. In October, Luke’s mother, Rosie Batty, was made Victoria’s Australian of the Year for her work as a domestic violence campaigner. She has also joined the Tyabb Cricket Club’s committee, in a …

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 …