Why Melbourne changed their street furniture to stainless steel

Ian Dryden: I cannot emphasize enough that street furniture is what is seen by citizens, not the pavement or gutters. Nobody looks at the asphalt nor the gutters. When we changed the street furniture, I explained to management that investment is needed, as the furniture is what makes the city stand out visually. Keeping a city nice and tidy is important as it affects the image of the city. All of this is possible with stainless steel, it looks good and it is easy to clean and maintain.

Ian Dryden: The City wanted a clean, well presented and safe city. If you don’t look over your city, and graffiti appears all over the place, it becomes a ghetto.

Ian Dryden: It happens all the time, but for stainless steel less so because it lasts much longer (30 to 35 years) and if you clean it regularly it looks like it came out of the factory yesterday.

Ian Dryden: Electropolished 304 grade and grade 316. It’s the perfect material for street furniture.

Ian Dryden: The City of Perth, Monash University has followed a similar path, as well as the City of Port Philip area. Although City of Port Philip did not have sufficient funds; I advised that all they need to do is change their bins, water fountains, seats, bike hoops and the city will look much better.

A case study of the City of Melbourne street furniture has been developed. It contains details of the furniture installed and a life cycle cost calculation comparing stainless steels to carbon steels.