INSPIRED HYDRATION

In the fight to eliminate single-use plastics, the O fountain helps hydrate communities while encouraging environmental sustainability.

Combining form and function in a truly unique way, the O fountain is a new drinking fountain that stands as a centrepiece for public space facilities of all types. Turn your open-space project into a masterpiece with the ability to paint your water fountain any way you like with the artist of your choice.

Driven by a desire to reduce the excessive use of single-use plastic bottles globally, the O fountain was designed by Social Entrepreneur Gretha Oost. Her mission to spread the O fountain message led to a partnership with street and park furniture specialists Urban+ Fountains & Furniture. Their shared vision for a truly sustainable future has propelled Oost’s mission forward, with the O fountain front and centre.

A bottle refill station and sculpture in one, the O fountain features a glass-reinforced concrete body and is suitable for use both indoors and out. Proudly Australian made, the fountain dispenses filtered water and is Watermark Certified. It is fully accessible to ensure all members of the community can use it, providing two activations points, one at the side and one at the top.

But the truly unique thing about the O fountain is its ability to be painted. The unit is supplied as a blank canvas, allowing councils or developers to turn each unit into a work of art. Not only does this process create a functional sculpture, it is designed to engage the community around it, ensuring place-making and positive interaction through a rich, sensory experience.

The O fountain has been successfully implemented in a number of locations, including a Central Equity development in Tarneit, Victoria, called the Newgate Estate. Faced with the challenge of appealing to a wide range of buyers and engaging the community, the developer searched for an innovative and community-minded addition to their latest project.

With a development ethos that focused on the core pillars of sustainability, community and customer value, Central Equity found its answer in the O fountain. An innovative solution that met the company’s desire for a more sensory approach that would add meaning to the built environment and deepen the community’s connection to its public spaces.

Central Equity worked with Wydnham City Council on the integration of the new infrastructure. A shortlist of local artists was proposed by the City of Wyndham Arts Program Support Officer before three designs were released to the public. Voted on by the community, the winning designs were hand-painted onto the installed O fountains.

Three distinctive designs were completed, each offering a fun and vibrant reflection of the community. The “green fountain” was designed and painted by artist Donna Racovalis and highlights the estate’s connection to the Growling Grass Frog Conservation Area located adjacent to the development. A black and white illustrated fountain reflecting a fun natural environment was painted by artist Jessica Jane. The third fountain, the “orange fountain”, was created by artist Elizabeth Dalton Hooker and features a mother bird feeding her young on one side with the other side a depiction of the future with the young birds now grown-up with children of their own. It symbolises how imperative conservation is today, for the benefit of those to come tomorrow.

Distributed exclusively by Urban+, buyers will find a wealth of support for the installation and maintenance of the O fountain on the Urban+ website. Resources for how to engage a local artist and material specifications are also available — making the choice for installing the O fountain an easy one for any public space project.

PROJECT PARTICULARS
Client Central Equity
Location Newgate, Victoria
Landscape Architect SMEC
Artist Selection Wyndham City Council, Wonderment Walk
Fountain Supply Urban+ Fountains & Furniture