Wellington streets to get Otago inspiration?

Wellington's windy weather was the inspiration for a new kind of cycleway separator, which scored an Otago Polytechnic student a $5,000 cash prize.

Third year Bachelor of Architecture student Archie Batchelor won first place in the Street Innovations Challenge, which challenged designers to come up with innovative ideas for cycleway separators along Wellington's streets.

The student win was even more impressive, given the second and third prizes went to professional teams from North Island urban design companies.

The competition was run by the Wellington City Council and Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI), as part of the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure (BICI).

Judges were looking for cycleway separator designs that would be "safe, flexible, durable, affordable and could relate in some way to Wellington’s landscape or character."



Archie chose to tackle the project as one of his 3rd year course electives, as part of his Architecture degree.

"I thought it was something a bit different to the usual architecture briefs we get, and I was up for a different kind of project."

About 8 other students in his third year programme took up the challenge, entering the competition along with students in Otago Polytechnic's design programme.

The project brief challenged designers to give cycleways "some sort of identity".

"In architecture, we look at the broader context of the site.. its cultural context, landscape, and topography," says Archie.

"I decided to take a similar approach for this design, thinking what's important or unique about Wellington?"

"So my concept was shaped by the wind and the coastline, which are both wavy and dynamic."



While Archie admits he's not much of a cyclist himself, he walks past the existing cycleway separators in Dunedin on his daily commute to the polytech, and says "I don't think they're very attractive."

His design uses strips of recycled rubber (200mm wide), with reflective tape in a wave-like pattern. These can be secured to the road surface or existing concrete separators.

He says his vision was for them to be quite adaptable.  The strips can have varying heights to create clearer separation along busy streets, or can be lower with gaps to allow easier access to driveways for vehicles like rubbish trucks.

Archie was awarded first prize by Wellington's Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon at a recent civic ceremony.  He won $5,000, plus the chance to see his design developed as a prototype, which could see his rubber waves potentially brought to life as a pilot project on Wellington streets.

Otago Product Design student Zachariah Harrison was also given a Special mention, for his flexible 'Wobly' modular bollards.