We are IntechOpen, the world’s leading publisher of Open Access books Built by scientists, for scientists 6,300 170,000 185M Open access books available International authors and editors Downloads Our authors are among the 154 TOP 1% 12.2% Countries delivered to most cited scientists Contributors from top 500 universities Selection of our books indexed in the Book Citation Index in Web of Science™ Core Collection (BKCI) Interested in publishing with us? Contact [email protected] Numbers displayed above are based on latest data collected. For more information visit www.intechopen.com Chapter 23 Street Furniture and Amenities: Designing the User-Oriented Urban Landscape Gökçen Firdevs Yücel Additional information is available at the end of the chapter http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/55770 1. Introduction It is often difficult to understand fully how site design integrates the elements of furniture that are used for various designated purposes and create a sense of place. Such an understanding can open up creative possibilities for designers of outdoor areas and enable them to shape spaces that can succeed in achieving their aims over the long term [1]. If street furniture is properly integrated in the design of a public space, it creates an identity and develops a sense of place around it [2]. Items of street furniture comprising, for example, objects used to facilitate transportation or the use of land adjacent to a street, are commonly used in urban areas with the aim of making the street more aesthetically appealing; however, these objects, if placed near intersections, may obstruct the view of drivers, especially if crowds develop around them; and if they are close to the roadway, they should also not obstruct the sight distance of pedestrians [3]. The furniture should be selected and set up based on an analysis of the site’s current and desired patterns of use, so it can serve its purpose effectively; quality furniture is costly, so it should be used only where it is really needed. There are various approaches to selecting or designing street furniture: for example, there could be a coordinated selection which gives a consistent tone to streets and walkways; or various parts of the streetscape could be designed to serve as artworks in themselves [4]. Generally speaking, there are five basic criteria involved in selecting and placing items of street furniture: function (i.e. seeing how necessary an item is and how it can serve its purpose), siting and layout (i.e. deciding where each item should be places), form and appearance (i.e. making sure there a continuity or at least a linkage between the designs of different items), durability (given expected usage), and cost [5]. © 2013 Yücel, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 624 Advances in Landscape Architecture 1.1. The significance of street furniture Street furnishings create the settings for resting, sitting and eating, and social encounters with others. Such settings may be of great importance to the elderly, those with limited mobility, and adults who have small children; but in addition to their functional aspect, items of urban furniture such as benches and tables in parks and squares can also be socially significant [6], as they give these sites a comforting and appealing air and draw people in together. Appropriately selected and placed furniture can draw people to outdoor spaces and add to the pleasure of using these spaces; the main challenge is getting them outdoors, with the aim of making them feel welcome, relaxed, and involved [1]. The quality of urban spaces is indicated by their character and how well they create a sense of identity, as well as by the quality and placement of their street furniture, as can be seen in various cities: London’s red telephone booths and Paris’ metro entrances, for example, have become iconic and essential to these cities’ identities [7]. In addition to their functional and symbolic roles, items of street furniture may also set standards and expectations of quality for the development of the areas where they are found [8] and can serve as talking points for planning [9]. 2. Furniture planning In order to plan the design of street furniture, one must first plan establish and define the type of space under consideration – whether it is a park, a street, a plaza, a waterfront, a recreational area, or a mall, for example. The initial defining questions are: who are the potential users of the space, for what purpose and at what times will it be used, and how will it serve users when they arrive there? [1]. Typically, installations where the furnishings have been planned and coordinated as part of a broader design concept are more successful than those where they have been selected piecemeal without taking account of users’ needs, or the architectural character or weather conditions at the site. As regards what furniture should be consistent across various sites and which unique to a particular site, this depends on the situation, but in general there can be some consistent elements, such as signage, or streetlighting (for quality of illumination, aesthetics, and to facilitate maintenance by standardizing the types of bulbs used) [10]. In brief, the goal is to create convenient, easily maintained and publicly accessible amenities that do not hinder pedestrians or traffic [11]. 2.1. Placement of street furniture The location of the furnishings should be based on their functions [4], and coherent with the patterns and designs of the hard surfaces at the site. The items of furniture should not give the appearance of being cluttered, so that, for example, signs are attached to a single post or column rather than being distributed in several places; group amenities such as seating Street Furniture and Amenities: Designing the User-Oriented Urban Landscape 625 areas or telephone booths are set up where they will be used, such as at pedestrian junctions; and features like bollards are used minimally [12]. In addition, the furniture should not be hazardous for pedestrians; if it is used along a walking area it should be aligned to make passage easier, rather than staggered like an obstacle course [13, 14]. Varying the texture of the walking surface at key points can also help the visually impaired to find public amenities more easily [11]. 3. Street furniture design The furnishings of urban outdoor spaces should be designed with the needs of the disabled, children, and the elderly in mind, and also to enable triangulation – i.e. they should be linked together to stimulate social encounters and encourage people to talk to strangers. In public spaces this stimulus can be created by the selection and arrangement of the street furniture; for instance, if benches, rubbish bins and telephones are far apart, they may have the effect of drawing people apart, whereas if they are arranged closely linked with other amenities such as a coffee cart, they tend to bring people together quite naturally. Safety and Security Furniture items designed for outdoor spaces must be constructed of safe materials and designed to prevent injury, without sharp edges or exposed fasteners. They are usually either attached to the ground with anchor bolts (for example, using surface mounting, i.e. attaching a bench to a concrete slab), or embedded in the ground. Naturally, the technique used for mounting should be decided on in advance, so the furniture can be made accordingly [15]. The type of furniture and its arrangement should also take into account visibility and sightlines, lighting, and accessibility issues that may be faced by women, children, the elderly and the disabled. Areas which are unsafe or pose risks should be designed taking these factors into consideration [16]. Materials Used in Street Furniture Furniture selection and design should take into account weather effects such as sunlight, expansion and contraction, wind stress, moisture, and in some cases, salt spray, frost, or ice. The best designs usually incorporate strong, simple shapes, native materials, and natural finishes, generally in black, grays, and earth tones, accented with bright colors [17]. The most popular materials used are steel and wood; other possibilities are stone, concrete, recycled plastic and various other materials. The choice of materials depends on the context and limitations of the design; for example, whether the furniture should be resistant to vandalism, whether ventilation is needed for drying it during wet weather spells, what the weather conditions may be, how frequently the furniture is likely to be used and by whom, what the initial costs are, including mounting, the costs and ease of maintenance, and whether there is a possibility of using eco-friendly materials [15]. Site furniture should be 626 Advances in Landscape Architecture made of nonflammable materials such as metal, brick, or stone, and wooden structures should be avoided in areas where there is a risk of fire [18]. Steel Stainless steel is a popular choice of material, because it is versatile, has a high strength/weight ratio and can be shaped to fit almost any design aesthetic. It is durable, resistant to corrosion and impact, and requires no maintenance; it is also cheap compared to all the other materials in terms of life-cycle cost, and is fully recyclable. Wood Wood is another popular choice of material for street furniture, because it is a natural material that feels warmer in cold weather and cooler in hot weather, unlike metals. Its disadvantages are that it dries more slowly than metals after rain, needs more maintenance, and is easier to burn, break, carve graffiti into, or otherwise vandalize. Wood may be inexpensive, but the type of wood selected should depend on the location and frequency of use of the furniture. For example Pinus spp. is inexpensive and quite durable, but loses its color and longevity if it is not treated and maintained; the cost of maintaining or replacing it may outweigh the initial cost of purchasing it. Cedrus spp. weathers naturally, is non-toxic and has a pleasant odour, but it is not a hardwood, and can easily be carved into or chipped; it is therefore unsuitable for areas where there is frequent use of the furniture. Concrete Concrete furniture may not need to be mounted, as it is heavy; it is also difficult to vandalize (except with spray paint). Concrete has a long durability and may be aesthetically attractive if it is designed to be consistent with neighboring architecture; however, it does not drain or ventilate well after rain. Much of the concrete street furniture that exists today seems outmoded and appears to lack innovation. Stone Like concrete, stone is very durable, does not need to be mounted because it is heavy, and is resistant to vandalism except when spray paint is used. However, it has many of the same disadvantages: it does not ventilate or dry well after rain, and is limited in its aesthetic possibilities where design is concerned [15]. Plastic Recycled furniture is generally made from plastics, which give it a smooth texture and appearance. The resulting furniture is highly durable, often lasting considerably longer than wood; low-maintenance; and therefore more cost-effective in the long term. Colour Items of street furniture should contrast significantly in color with the background where they are situated, and have a luminance contrast of at least 0.3 (30%) to increase their visibility to pedestrians. This can be supplemented by colored borders in the pavement, Street Furniture and Amenities: Designing the User-Oriented Urban Landscape 627 which mark the edges of the street furniture and guide pedestrians around it to clear and unobstructed walking areas [19]. Sustainability Paint or other finishing materials of furniture should be non-toxic and non-staining [14]. The use of recycled materials in street furniture enables manufacturers to conserve natural resources and reduce their carbon footprints; it also educates the users of the furniture, the public, on the importance and mental and physical benefits of recycling. In addition, such furniture items can be recycled again when they need to be replaced, further reducing damage to the environment. Local city administrations have been increasing initiatives to ensure the sustainability of their street furniture, including raising civic awareness, in order to reduce costs and fulfil legal requirements for emissions and energy efficiency. Most of these initiatives are demonstrably effective; replacing filament light bulbs with new LED bulbs, for example, can cut the energy consumption of street lighting by 40-70%. With new, renewable energy sources other possibilities are emerging, such as, for example, converting street lamps into photovoltaic power sources which supply light, and at the same time supply energy to a city’s power grid. Photovoltaic devices differ from solar panels, in that the power they generate can either be stored in batteries or added to the mains power grid [20]. In addition to this variation on solar energy generation, there are items of street furniture available that are wind-powered, or designed as photovoltaic-windpower hybrids; these items, according to their designers, optimize the use of renewable energy sources and also guarantee a power supply through two different sources of energy. Another new power source that is being explored for street furniture is geothermal energy, which arises from the subsoil; heat-controlled benches, for example, can be connected through bore holes in the earth to a geothermal system which produces a comfortable seating temperature [21]. 3.1. Seating Seating facilities, such as benches, should be integrated within the outdoor spaces of the city wherever people wait, meet, or socialize; in public squares, for instance, they should be coherent with other elements, so that when seats are not in use they do not create a sense of isolation or emptiness. Being able to sit within a city landscape provides an opportunity to pause, and also a tactile and more intimate contact with a place than one has when standing or walking [22]. Location The best locations for benches are places where there is heavy pedestrian use: retail shopping corridors, transit stops, plazas, spaces outside cultural institutions, etc; poor locations are areas where there is little activity, such as in front of offices that close early or buildings without windows, and in spaces hidden from view or far away from active areas [23]. In high-activity areas there should be access to seating every 60m (or every 50m if there 628 Advances in Landscape Architecture is intense activity) [24]; there should also be rest facilities at regular intervals of 100-200m, with the needs of the disabled kept in mind [11]. Benches should be set up near other amenities such as bus shelters, kiosks, news stands, waste receptacles, telephones, etc., and arranged where there is protection from the wind and to allow a choice of sitting in the sun or shade. Moveable chairs or lightweight benches allow the widest range of choices. They should be separated from the walking path by a space of 30-60cm, and with the seats level and having a maximum lengthwise slope of 4%; if the slope is greater, the ground should be built up to create a level surface [25]. Benches set at right angles to each other create situations conducive to socialization [26], whereas if they are lined up in a row they prevent group conversation (they could be lined up in areas with an exceptional view, or where there are many people passing by). In addition, they should not be set up directly facing each other (unless they are being used to play games), because people are reluctant to make direct eye contact with strangers and will turn or sit sideways to avoid it. If pairs of benches are set up at a 90-120̊ angle, the space they create facilitates both socialization and sitting alone. There should also be appropriate space left beside and in front of benches to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers for the disabled without hindering pedestrians [27]. Design In designing benches, considerations of comfort are important, but the level of comfort provided depends on how they will be used: on a shopping street, for example, people may stop briefly to rest, so comfort is less important than it is, say, in a park, where people may spend half a day in seating areas. There may also be other things to consider: for example, large slats in benches might be less comfortable than small slats, but may be more appropriate in areas where teenagers tend to sit on the back rests of the benches. In general, the selection or design of benches should take into acount all relevant conditions of use. Appearance is another important consideration: benches should be designed to fit in with their surroundings, because a bench functions like an extension of the property it adjoins, and gives a street a sense of ownership. As a result, it is more likely that business owners will take responsibility for the care of the bench and the street, and this, on a more general level, will contribute positively to the area’s safety and security [27]. Armrests and back support are normal features of seating; these provide assistance to the elderly. Back supports, contoured seats and arm rests provide comfort when sitting and support when getting up and down; these are important design elements, especially in areas where people sit for longer periods of time. Adding armrests in the center of a bench should be considered in cases where it is desirable to prevent people from sleeping on benches. When space is available, steel seating is occasionally used in circular or curved forms to give an organic feel to an area [28]. The design options for a site can be increased if the types and heights of seating (stairs, benches, seat walls, etc.) are varied [18]. The length of seating elements should be 60cm per person. For benches, the recommended height of the seating surface is 42.5cm, with a width Street Furniture and Amenities: Designing the User-Oriented Urban Landscape 629 of 35-40cm and the back rest extending for 50cm. Benches with arm and back rests provide support to users’ bodies; to provide appropriate back support for users, the back rests should be 32.5-37.5cm in height. Between the seating surface and the back rest there should be a 95°-100° angle, and the seating surface should slope back at an angle of 10°. Walls to be used as seat walls should be 37.5-60cm in height (42.5cm is recommended); and the depth of a seat wall should be at least 37.5cm if access is only available from one side, or 75cm (90cm is recommended) if it is available from both sides [25]. Moveable chairs to be used in open spaces are an alternative to benches and other seating elements; while these may not be ideal in every situation, they can be quite useful, as they are more comfortable than benches. While their cost varies, they are also less expensive: approximately ten moveable chairs can be purchased for the cost of one bench. In addition, users can arrange moveable furniture that they find at a site in any way they wish in order to sit closer together or further apart, in the sun or under shade. Disabilities For users with disabilities, some seating should be located near public toilets and telephones. In general, rest areas with benches should allow at least 1m of adjoining space to accommodate wheelchairs [14]; for the same reason, table surface heights should be within the range 0.75-0.90m, and the minimum height under the table should be 0.6m [11]. 3.2. Waste receptacles Location The most common error in placing waste receptacles is putting them wherever there is an empty space, instead of in places where people will use them. If they are not placed appropriately they will remain empty while the surrounding space becomes dirtied: people will not change their habitual walking path to find a trash can, so the proper placement of these items of furniture is crucial. Waste receptacles should be highly visible and accessible in order to minimize littering. They should be located where they are most likely to be used, in crowded areas like busy intersections, close to crosswalks, beside take-out food shops or vendors, at bus stops, in plazas, outside building entrances such as offices, department stores and homes, and near other items of street furniture like benches, seats, shelters, walls, fences and telephones [27]. Receptacles should be situated far enough away from seating areas to minimize the unpleasant effects of trash odors and insects on users; and their fronts should be set back at least 30cm from walkways [25]. The number of waste receptacles to be provided depends on how many people use an area, how much litter is produced in the area, and on how efficient maintenance and sanitation programs are. On streets in the city center, 2-4 waste receptacles per block are usually sufficient: one should be at each end of the block next to the crosswalk, and one or two more in the middle of the block if there are benches or food stalls along it [13]. Trash cans are 630 Advances in Landscape Architecture usually spaced at 30m intervals, unless there is an increased need in a particular area; they are usually single units rather than groups of receptacles [24]. On commercial streets there should be at most one trash can every 60.96m; in areas where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic, the distance between receptacles can be decreased, but additional receptacles should be provided only if maintenance is provided by a private sponsor [29]. In some isolated natural areas trash cans may not be necessary, or if they are, they should be selected from a determined range; their location should not detract from the view and they should not have unnecessary decorations that clash with other items of street furniture. In these areas, discreet cigarette stubbers should be provided instead of ashtrays [28]. It should also be taken into consideration that waste receptacles will also be used at night in parks and squares; for this reason, they are most appropriately placed along lit-up pedestrian walkways or other lighted areas. Design Waste receptacles come in numerous forms, and may be designed with open, half-open, or closed tops, and mounted on colums (lighting, signs etc.), walls or vertical surfaces, free standing, fixed to the ground surface, moveable (generally for temporary use), built-in bins (benches, seats, walls etc.) [30,31]; however, appropriate receptacles should have certain qualities, of which the most important is that they should clearly look like places for discarding litter; if they blend in with the environment too well they will become unrecognizable. While they should certainly be compatible with other street furniture and with the local architecture, their function and purpose must be clearly recognizable. Another important quality of a good waste receptacle is ease of use; the following characteristics are the most desirable. First, people should be able to dispose of waste without having to touch the receptacle or open a door to use it. Trash cans are most easily accessible when they are about 100cm in height with the receptacle at most 40cm from the outer edge [19]. The opening of the receptacle should be large enough for litter to be put in, but the size depends on the context; in parks, for example, people may dispose of larger items, so the opening should be bigger. In general, it should be at least 25cm wide, so a folded newspaper or take-out food container can be put into it; if the opening is too small, items can get stuck in it and litter will be strewn in the vicinity of the receptacle. The opening should also be at most 90cm above the ground to facilitate use by the disabled. The size of the receptacle should be determined by its expected use and how often it will be emptied. Well-organized public spaces have several smaller receptacles that are emptied often, rather than one large receptacle that is only emptied at long intervals. In most areas, containers with a volume of 114-190 litres are sufficient. Wheelie bins are suitable for areas where there is a high volume of trash, if they can be emptied easily by collection equipment. In shopping centers, 120-litre wheelie bins with a framed cover over the top are required; while in town and district parks, 240-litre or 120-litre wheelie bins should be provided, depending on user needs [24]. Street Furniture and Amenities: Designing the User-Oriented Urban Landscape 631 Waste receptacles should be sturdy; to bear the forces of activities such as sitting, leaning, etc., that may occur beside or on top of them [13]. They should especially be able to contain all kinds of chemical and flammable materials, and should also be robust enough to withstand the impact of children climbing on them or bicycles and other motor vehicles striking them [31]. If they are attached to streetlights they should not obstruct the flow of pedestrians, and should be painted in contrasting colors to assist those with low vision [32]. It is important to know how often waste receptacles will be emptied. In areas where the receptacles are being inspected regularly, they can be lined with plastic bags. If it is expected that the receptacles will be emptied daily, they may be lidless; otherwise there may be a need for them to have a hinged lid resistant to outdoor weather conditions. Lids are also important for receptacles outdoors, to prevent the garbage from getting wet. In addition to having the waste from them collected, the receptacles themselves should also be cleaned from time to time. The materials used for waste receptacles should be durable and resistant to vandalism, fire, rust, and stains. Among the choices of materials available are: enamels, which are graffiti- and stain-resistant, but may chip easily; wood and rough-textured or porous surfaces, which are rust- and stain-resistant but easily vandalized and hard to clean; aluminum, which generally serves its purpose but may be vandalized to be used as scrap metal in some areas; and plastics, which may be problematic if they are solvent-sensitive, especially in parks, where discarded barbecue lighter fluids can erode them. Galvanized steel is a very durable material that can be used for receptacles in aeas where they may be heavily abused [27]. fi In view of land ll costs and the currently growing acceptance and understanding of recycling, it seems likely that the need for receptacles for recycling will increase in the future. 3.3. Signage Signage systems play a number of important roles: they provide information and directions for people to find their way around a site, help maintain the site’s image and coherence, and encourage learning. Location The location of signs significantly reinforces their message. Besides conventional signboards, maps, kiosks, and other elements may also function as signs; and placing signs at other site amenities like benches, cafes, restrooms and intersections can help create mini-destinations in larger open spaces [33]. Signage can be used for various purposes: for example, directional signs can help people keep their bearings and give them a sense of security; and in parks where there are large natural areas or no specific destinations, micro-spaces can be created with a sign, a picnic table, a telephone, or other amenities, facilitating social encounters and enabling