A smart reuse of phone booths

Retro phone booths are being up-cycled as Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Australia.

telephone booth

Late last year, Telstra launched a trial of 1000 new Wi-Fi hotspots across Australia. The trial involved converting some existing Telstra payphones into Wi-Fi hotspots that allowed users to access the internet using smartphones and tablets free of charge for up to 30 minutes.

The trial has taken place in some of Australia’s busiest tourist hubs, including Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall, Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall and Perth’s central business district. Telstra will roll out 500,000 Wi-Fi hotspots around Australia by mid-2015. Telstra is planning to bring Wi-Fi internet to community areas and social precincts, as well as shopping strips, business centres and transport hubs.

It is fantastic that the iconic phone booth has adopted new technology to continue its purpose in connecting people.

The Telstra phone booth is a significant historic project of Street Furniture Australia. It was originally designed in 1982 by SFA directors Darrel Conybeare and William Morrison. As public payphones have become less relevant with the onset of smart phones and mobile internet services, it is fantastic that the iconic phone booth has adopted new technology to continue its purpose in connecting people.

Look out for a Telstra phone booth that features a pink cube on top with a white Wi-Fi logo, and trial it for yourself.

Scanned Advert

 

posted on

  • 03 March 2015, 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

RSL revives memorial fountain

War memorials in towns across the country are being restored to honour the Centenary of Anzac, with a new drinking fountain the latest upgrade to Taree’s Fotheringham Park. The original fountain was installed in 1960 by the Manning River Air Force Association, but fell into disrepair. Some 55 years later an Arqua Drinking Fountain from Street Furniture Australia takes its place, providing running water again with disabled access and a special feature for pets. Darcy Elbourne, senior vice president of the Taree RSL, which is leading the upgrade, says the fountain is both a valuable memorial to air force personnel and a functional asset for the park. He says, “Taree’s Fotheringham Park is adjacent to the beautiful Manning River and is a major stopover for people traveling between Sydney and …

  • 28 oct 2015
read more

Working with Charles and Ray Eames

SPECIAL FEATURE: Australian architect Darrel Conybeare joined the Eames office in Venice, California, in 1967, as a young graduate of the Architecture and Civic Design Masters program at the University of Pennsylvania. The next three years were beyond his greatest expectations … The design approach at Street Furniture Australia has been influenced by the Eames office, where Darrel Conybeare (shown), SFA co-director, worked for a number of years. I was amazed that I had won the job. In 1967, American architect Denise Scott Brown introduced me to Ray and Charles Eames after I had moved to California. My interview took place at 901 Washington Boulevard, Venice, California, the design home of their extraordinary practice. Ray and Charles described the nature of the job, and I explained my purpose in coming to America to …

  • 14 sep 2015
read more

A City in Focus

As part of the CM+ Talk Series 2015, Phil Raskall, Strategic Research Manager, City of Sydney, delivered his talk, ‘Transforming the City’s Economy: Implications, Opportunities and Challenges’, at the CM+ headquarters in East Sydney on Thursday, 13 August. The City is undergoing a profound transformation. Over the most recent five-year period, the City of Sydney economy created over 50,000 jobs and grew at twice the rate of the rest of Sydney. The majority of this growth was in the areas of professional and business services and the digital economy. Attracted by job opportunities, over the last two decades the City residential population has increased by over 100,000 people. “Sydney doesn’t rely on one or two ‘tricks’ to maintain its appeal,” Raskall says. “It performs well at all levels.” With a …

  • 17 aug 2015
read more