Street furniture

Street furniture is the equipment placed in streets, squares, parks and shared outdoor areas for people to use. Benches, litter bins, lamp posts, bike racks, bus shelters, bollards, planters, drinking fountains and wayfinding signs all fall into this group. Small as these items are, they directly shape how a public space gets used.

What matters in design

Street furniture has to be durable, easy to maintain and resistant to vandalism, since it spends years outdoors in sun, rain and frost. Backrests and armrests on benches help older people stand up. For accessibility, pieces should not block the walking line or clash with tactile paving used by blind and partially sighted people. A good layout puts seating in shade and facing a view, and keeps bins close to where people stop. Choosing items from one design family gives the space coherence.

Street furniture in visualization

In a render, street furniture is one of the most effective details for reading scale and use. A bench, a bicycle and a few people turn an empty square into a lived-in place. The role of surroundings and landscape detail in visualization is discussed in 3D landscape modeling for architecture.