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Richmond Community Wayfinding
Type of project: Community Co-Design Project
Collaborator: We Are Richmond, Richmond Community Gardens, Avebury House, Avon Ōtākaro Network
Sponsors/Funders: Christchurch City Council , Natural Paint Co., Stop Digging, Trees For Canterbury
Location: 51 Swanns Road, Cnr Woodchester Ave, 10 Shirley Road, with route in between
Completed: February 2021
Status: Active
Richmond Community Wayfinding is the first phase of a wayfinding route through Richmond and the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor. The project began in conversation in late 2019, and was designed and built with community members in 2020. The project encompasses two parkets, one at 51 Swanns Road at the entrance to the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor, and one at the corner of Medway/Woodchester Ave which is the midway point of the route, with a signboard at 10 Shirley Road. Our thanks to the enthusiastic cohort of community volunteers that participated in the co-design hui and the build for this project.
This is phase one of a wayfinding project which the community hopes to expand and make permanent in the coming years. The Green Lab’s way of working enables the quick installation of temporary infrastructure that serves to test an idea. We are Richmond and other local organisations will be able to check on how the parklets and the trail is used, and will determine future developments based on feedback from real world experience of a space.
The Swanns Road parklet is a simple source of information about things happening nearby. It has a bike stand and a table to picnic – it’s a place to pause, a start or an endpoint on the trail, or a place of discovery. The picket fence and blue house motif used as trail markers were chosen by the steering committee in reference to the houses that were lost after the Canterbury Quakes. The planting is majority native, with some introduced pollinator friendly plants; we are sure these will thrive under the care of the Richmond Community Gardeners.
The trail heads down along the river to the parklet at Medway. This has a custom built circular table with wayfinding encompassed in the design. Refurbished planter boxes have been utilised to create a contained space where folk can linger. The parklet is near Adventure Ave and other active sites in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor. The trail then cuts through the suburb to the park at 10 Shirley road. It passes through parks and utilises pedestrian/cycle access ways. Route markers are created from recycled acrylic and painted in the trail’s signature light blue, and have been attached to power poles with permission from Orion. The route was determined by those with keen knowledge of local histories, and a later stage of creating QR codes linking to site information along the way is planned. Throughout the construction, we utilised recycled materials wherever possible and chosen timber that will weather to a natural aesthetic and the majority of the plants are natives.
Our thanks to Christchurch City Council for funding this project, and to our material sponsors Natural Paint Co., Stop Digging, and Trees for Canterbury.
“We were so happy to be involved in the initial consultation as the land in Swanns Road was my home from age 8, having passed from my grandmother to my parents, and then purchased by my husband and myself. We were able to give our two girls the wonderful upbringing on a big section by the river. It also is a place of amazing memories for our extended family. It was a home that for the 50 years it was in our family [and] always had at least 3 generations living in it. Although no longer living in Richmond coming ‘home’ to the area is made so special with what has been done. [The Green Lab] listened to and respected the feelings of those who lived there and were forced to leave, making [The Wayfinding Celebration] feel like going home and the feeling of our spirit still being there.
“The whole process of getting together, talking about the neighbourhood and designing the parklet plus actually having all the ideas come together has been inspiring. Everyone at the Green Lab has been very kind, helpful, knowledgeable and pro-active in making it a success."
“ The parklet project was great fun. Being on the Steering Committee was a valuable example of how discussion and co-operation can deliver a better result than a top-down solution. It's our neighbourhood so we have a very good understanding of the types of people likely to use the space, both positive and negative. It was a good opportunity to get to know other residents, to build neighbourhood cohesion and to give us something we can feel proud of. A side effect is that we now feel more comfortable interacting with our neighbours, if we didn't before. Additionally, because we put the work in, we are keen to see it thrive and are happy to look after it.”