Getting Outdoor Spaces Ready for Spring

With warmer weather approaching the overwhelming sentiment for people is to get outdoors. With public spaces still in hibernation, now is the perfect time for a spring spruce. Here are our top 6 tips to get your outdoor space ready for spring:

Plant New Trees

For many people living in larger cities, there is often a feeling of being stuck in an urban jungle. By adding greenery and pockets of nature, public spaces are immediately softened transforming them into places for connection. Greenery invites the use of such public space by creating a more attractive environment that improves, physical, cognitive, and psychological health.

Provide New Seating and Tables

It is important that public spaces encourage and foster connection and inclusion. A simple and effective way to do this is by providing furniture that acts as a meeting place, designed for individuals to interact. Outdoor furniture should be inviting with features to look for being back and arm rests, quality material, and adequate space for all to use. It is important to consider the practicalities of installing outdoor furniture with ideal choices being furniture that is easy to install, low maintenance and fits the aesthetic style of the outdoor space.

Shaded Areas

With the warmer months brings increased temperatures and UV rays and with this an aversion to ill-designed public spaces. To ensure useability year-round, public spaces need to ensure that they contain shaded areas to provide moments of relief from the heat.

To provide shade for the community, try incorporating a mix of leafy vegetation and shelters to ensure some protection from the heat is provided. Shelters act as multi-purpose structures as they provide protection from the sun, but also weatherproof your space from the effects of wind and rain.

Add Public Art

To encourage a sense of belonging and community engagement, adding public art to your outdoor space is a wonderful investment. Showcasing cultural understanding and identity, public artwork is a great way to bolster community spirit through accentuating its unique features. Displaying public art draws in foot traffic and opens the space making it more accessible and connected. This type of artwork is versatile across mediums with artwork able to be displayed on street furniture, walls, sculptures, and feature works.

Ensure Your Space is Kid-Friendly

When considering the younger members of the community it is important that your outdoor space is kid friendly. Through design principles like creating cycle tracks where they can cycle or scooter, creating shared musical instruments, and implementing water features into public spaces we increase kid-friendliness of the region. Areas where children can play and express their creativity are also important aspects of creating a diverse and accessible public space. These can be outdoor puzzles and board games, sports courts and fields and playground equipment.

Accessible Outdoor Seating

Another element to ensure your public space are welcoming and can be used by all community members, is creating inclusive outdoor spaces. Important aspects to consider are level walkways that can accommodate wheelchairs and the elderly, and seating that meets accessibility standards and that is inclusive of wheelchairs.

How Felton can help

Felton are specialists in providing outdoor furniture to parks, communities, councils, schools and other organisations. For more information on how Felton can help transform your public space, get in touch with our friendly team on 1800 834 016.