With their round shape and bright orange windows, Canberra’s bus shelters have become a cultural icon. But what if they were reimagined?

That was the task at hand for University of Canberra second year Bachelor of Architecture students, who were asked to produce a theoretical redesign of the Ainslie Avenue bus shelter for a competition supported by Canberra Centre.

There were three joint winners, with each group receiving $1500 from the Canberra Centre. The final 12 designs will be on display until 29 July at the Canberra Centre.

The first winners were Cedar Hernandez, Joshua Catanzariti and Aggie Rostagno, who designed a rounded, panelled wall that could be mass-produced.

Cedar said the design, which “took about six weeks” to finalise, was inspired by spirographs and vacuum forming, where a sheet of plastic is heated in a machine to soften it.

The team's winning design. Photo: Tyler Cherry

“The competition was in three different phases, the first was moulding the materials we could use, the second was looking at how to bring the panels together and the third was working digitally to come up with a shelter form. We were looking at futuristic techniques and pushing the boundaries into something that hadn’t been made before,” Cedar said.

“We had to choose a base shape which for us was a hexagon, which was a matter-of-fact decision. We then had a panel piece which could connect with another panel piece fairly easily. This then led us to design a shelter which could be mass produced. We wanted something people could enjoy and experience in different ways.”

Cedar said the group is “thrilled” their design will be appearing at the Canberra Centre.

“We were very pleasantly surprised for it to be out there in the public spectrum,” Cedar said.

“It’s reaffirming as well, because in architecture degrees it can feel like you’re in a bit of bubble sometimes. So to actually go out there and be part of a design competition is so encouraging and just gives you a bit of a push to keep going.”

Canberra Centre Bus Stop Design Competition winners:

Group One: Aggie Rostagno, Cedar Hernandez, and Joshua Catanzariti

Group Two: Sage Tynan and Thomas Petersen

Group Three: Stephanie Williamson

Sustainability Prize: Katrina Cachia, Tiarne Smith, and Elizabeth McDonald

The final 12 designs will be on display until 29 July at the Canberra Centre on the glass floor on Level 1, nearby Polo Ralph Lauren.

Find out more about the competition here: https://www.canberra.edu.au/about-uc/media/newsroom/2021/june/redesigning-an-icon-how-uc-students-could-change-canberras-cityscape