Urban punctuation

From benches to bollards, street lamps to bus shelters, street furniture is an essential part of the urban fabric. Lauren Hills reports on its growing importance in the Middle East.

Like onset extras, street furniture is one of those elements frequently overlooked but very much needed to make up the whole.

If iconic buildings can be called Dubai's show stealers, then it is its everyday items such as bollards and benches that are its quieter cast members barely visible in the background.

Take them away, however, and people immediately notice that something is missing even if they are hard pressed to put their finger on exactly what it is.

Lining pavements, parks, public spaces and residential developments, street furniture provides the punctuation for open spaces.

Both functional and attractive, it is a driver of pedestrian activity: bollards act as safety elements; benches create rest stops; bus stops provide a form of shelter. And unlike its flimsier counterpart outdoor furniture, street furniture adds permanence to a city intrinsically helping to create a sense of place.

"Street furniture can make a city look more finished, adding important touches that infuse the areas around the buildings with a sense of belonging; it can make a city feel more complete," comments Richard Kornmayer, export manager of urban decor design and manufacture company Fundicio Ductil Benito.

Changing times

Traditionally, street furniture has not held a great deal of prominence in the region, frequently overlooked or put in as an afterthought into developments. This is now starting to change, however, say suppliers.

"Before there wasn't much thought about street furniture," says Alex Charawani, managing partner of Gebal Co LLC, which has supplied street furniture for Nakheel's Dubai Waterfront and Aldar's Al Raha Beach project in Abu Dhabi.

"People would just put a bench here and a bench there. But what we are seeing now in discussions we have with Aldar and other big developers is that they are saying ‘This is our building, this is our design theme, and we want to continue it'. We are discussing materials and not only in terms of the quality - the physical thing that you sit on - but in terms of what would look best in a particular area."

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM