Edible Outdoor Rooms

Foster Street, Surry Hills, NSW

Edible Outdoor Rooms was conceived from an ongoing project to activate underutilised public spaces within our studio neighbourhood. It is made possible in part by a $20,000 Community Services Grant from the City of Sydney. It is a temporary installation which will take place over the coming summer along Foster Street, Surry Hills. Edible Outdoor Rooms is inspired by our desire to create a lively public space which the working and residential community can frequent every day. It also realises the potential for Foster Street to become an active hub between the Sydney's precincts.

Foster Street has a great deal of character and charm, lined with creative industries, galleries, cafés, bars and design showrooms. The narrow footpaths on both sides of the street make safe pedestrian movement difficult and gathering of people on the street almost impossible.

The installation seeks to improve the amenity of the street by widening areas of the footpath to create areas for public to sit and enjoy the sunshine. Concrete pipes will be used as outdoor seating and for harvesting edible plants. Planting by volunteers will give the local community a chance to engage with place and the opportunity to learn and share their knowledge and skills. Workshops run by local chef, Hamish Ingham will teach participants about growing food in an urban environment and the preparation of edible plants.

Edible Outdoor Rooms will be a unique collaboration between residents, workers, business owners and design professionals to enliven Sydney's public space. Thanks to the encouragement of the City of Sydney, it will be a precursor for permanent improvements and widening of the footpaths along Foster Street.

Edible Outdoor Rooms will be the first realised project of the Rawson Lane Arts Association Inc.

Project Team:

Sam Crawford, Felicity Gartelmann, Claire McCaughan, Ellie Gutman, Wai-Yee Ho

The following firms/ companies are providing their services pro bono:

Bates Landscape
Jane Irwin Landscape Architects
CMS Surveyors
NSW Certifiers
Northrop Engineers
Ausdrain
Cement Australia
Benedict
BC Sands
Humes
Andreasens Green
Bar H

Special Thanks to:

The City of Sydney
Michale Bates and the Bates Landscape team without whom we could not have completed the project.
Glenn Wallace, Special Projects Program Manager, City of Sydney
Building owners, business owners, residents and workers of Foster Street