Top 6 furnishing trends in outdoor education

As educators increasingly recognise the value of being outdoors for student engagement, wellbeing and learning, there’s never been a better time to reimagine school and university spaces.

See our new practical guide to bringing trends to life with Street Furniture Australia products, thoughtfully crafted configurations, durable materials and flexible colour palettes. And view case studies from projects around Australia and the world.

Outdoor furniture for schools
and campuses (pdf)

view guide

Since 1986, Street Furniture Australia has supplied to countless outdoor education projects in Australia and internationally. Here are six current furnishing trends we are observing in this space: 

1. Social Circles: Encourage spontaneous interaction and collaboration.

2. Outdoor Classroom: Empower educators to bring lessons outside.

3. Fun and Bright: Ignite imagination and play with colours that bring smiles.

4. Active and Passive Spaces: Versatile areas that cater to social butterflies and introspective thinkers.

5. Lunch Time: Bring students together with long communal tables and picnic settings.

6. Around a Tree: Create comfortable shaded areas with seating to suit any budget.

Top image: Linea Platform (LIP9, 1800mm) with Hill, Mustard battens and Textura Monument frame. Linea Seat (LIS10) and Linea Bench (LIB6), plinth-fixed with tailored armrests, Mustard battens and Textura Monument frame.

To find out more, make an enquiry with our team or view our practical guide below.

Outdoor furniture for schools
and campuses (pdf)

view guide

posted on

  • 31 March 2023, by Editor

topics


make an enquiry

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

enquire now

recent news

Book your spot on a 2024 Factory Tour

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 …

  • 20 nov 2023
read more

Top 10 StreetChat stories of 2023

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 …

  • 18 jan 2024
read more

Western Sydney train stations kickstart prototype ‘Power Spots’

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 …

  • 18 jan 2024
read more

related news

Murri School receives Linea donation

Street Furniture Australia is donating $40,000 worth of furniture from breakout spaces from the 2022 Festival of Landscape Architecture: COUNTRY to The Murri School, an Aboriginal and Islander Independent Community School in Brisbane. The collection of Linea Seats, Cubes, Curved Benches, Sun Lounges and Picnic Settings includes a pair painted by artist Casey Coolwell-Fisher, a Quandamooka, Nunukul woman of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island, Queensland) – commissioned by Street Furniture Australia and Blaklash Creative. Director of Blaklash Creative and member of the Festival Creative Directorate Troy Casey says, “A huge part of the festival was about how we can ensure that community gets something from it. We spent two days sharing our culture, our experiences, and the responsibility to positive impact. We can’t really do that without giving back to mob, …

  • 31 oct 2022
read more

7 Ways to Activate Streets

As the value of public spaces comes into focus, this article shares seven case studies of street furniture being used to help improve community wellbeing. Both tactical pop-ups and permanent installations are featured below, with examples of projects that foster community engagement and measure social impact. Street Furniture Australia products have been tried-and-tested to activate spaces and deliver results. Select from our range to bring life, joy and comfort to your community. Case 1. Creating Millions of Smiles Woden Experiment was a six-month prototype installation by the ACT Government that aimed to bring life, joy and comfort to Canberra’s Woden Town Square. Brightly coloured seats and tables were configured in random positions to create a casual and welcoming vibe. Community interviews, observations and workshops were at the heart of this …

  • 26 may 2020
read more

The Rise of Outdoor Education

Outdoor spaces support many important aspects of school life – providing places to play, learn, meet, make friends, socialise over lunch, share stories or sit quietly. Bringing the classroom outdoors is a growing trend in Australian education, with an increasing body of evidence to support its benefits for learning, social skills and health. Sir Ken Robinson, author of the most-watched TED Talk of all time, says, “We learn much more from the world around us and each other than we do from necessarily sitting indoors at desks. “What really drives education is curiosity, trying to fill gaps in our understanding. And the world around us is a tremendous resource to stimulate that curiosity.” He gives five reasons to teach outside, namely: Nature is a powerful resource. Children can learn through …

  • 28 mar 2019
read more