Our challenge was to create an innovative public furniture
element which helps give a public space its “sense of place” and encourages the
community to proudly use their local areas with their neighbours. This was the
basis of my family barbeque area, located in Campellhill Pioneer Reserve. Upon
first visiting the park, I realised that litter was a main problem, followed by
the careless dumping of coal. This meant that there were piles of coal dotted
across the park area, usually accompanied by smaller piles of rubbish. The
design of the park is very open, and thus there is very little seating area for
family gatherings.
My design focuses on bringing together the local families,
and allowing them to enjoy a barbeque, whilst minimising damage to the public
area. The park is located in Chester Hill, a predominantly Lebanese area, and
they are thus the locals which use the park the most often. Their families tend
to be large, and therefore the area was designed with 4 seats, which allows
seating from both sides, to cater for larger numbers. The seats are arranged in
a circular fashion to allow for easier communication whilst eating, and there
is a space left for portable barbeques. The location of the bin and the coal
pit resides beside each other, a short few steps from the seating area, to
allow for easier removal of waste by locals, and by park cleaners at a later
date.
