Design smiles

Showing that you care is very important

The other day I was in Henderson which is part of West Auckland and found design smiling at me so I smiled back (and took some photos).

Henderson is not a super wealthy town but they clearly value good design and are willing to invest in quality. As a visitor you will see the more drab side of the town but also see that there is a commitment to design.

I find this really motivating and exciting. Here is a community saying "we want better stuff" and "here is some better stuff". Makes me want to go and design better stuff because of this public statement that a community clearly wants it.

What is good?

Here are some things that caught my eye in Henderson.

This sign cares. It does not present any fixing or fasteners on the front face of the sign. It cares about how it meets the ground. The materials are aluminium and durable and will look good for a long time. The graphic design is great and the overall finish says 'quality'

The engineer in me just had to look at how it was constructed. The bracket that secures the sign to the post is made from an extrusion that is sliced and then the holes are tapped. You can see the security screw that is driven by three holes.

The other bracket is a simple folded piece of aluminium that fastens to the sign and the pole bracket. The vinyl sign is then stuck over the fasteners.

All this makes for a really clean and tidy sign. Even if from some angles you can see the brackets behind the sign.

All in all a great impression. If a town cares about how it communicates like this then surely they have a great attitude.

But I'm not expecting everyone to peer at street signs in great detail to get a feel for how Henderson values design. There are far more blunt examples to behold by just walking about.

On the walk from the car park to the main shops you can see the library really makes a statement compared to it's older neighbours. Not that old is bad but here you see a library being give true reverence and care by the use of design. When you get over the bridge the scene is even better.

Now this is not my type of architecture but you have to compare it to what is opposite and even if there are things you don't like you can not deny that a big effort is being made. You can see the 'artistic' overhanging wall in the picture above. What is all that about? But check those negative thoughts and instead soak in the attitude. The attitude that Henderson is not scared of making bold design decisions. The result is that I was really uplifted and encouraged. Get to the top of those steps and you'll see this.

Not bad.

And the benches are built to last as well as look great.

And inside the library.

And so to the bike racks. Something to moan about or something to make you smile? Obstruction or art? By now I think you can guess which Henderson planners chose and you are right take a look.

Henderson Town Council strike me as if they might be as bold as New York and even do something like this.

"Hmm nice but expensive" I hear you say. Well in some cases nice stuff costs more but if you chose wisely then you get more value out of it. The number of shonky signs I see bent and removed makes me think that the ones in Henderson will deliver a lower cost of ownership. This brings me to Mc Leod's Bridge over Oratia Stream. This is an example of good design in that it does the job very well. Most people don't even notice the design of it but it is safe, functional and pleasant to use.

I can imagine some planners saying that the signs and bike racks I applaud are too expensive yet on a project like this bridge they would go overboard on expensive hardwood decking and stainless steel fasteners. Stainless railings and so on.

Not in Henderson. Pine decking held down by galvanised nails work just fine and they still have money for some really nice touches elsewhere in the town centre.