Furniture can have a great impact on the overall atmosphere of a street, and how it looks and feels will determine how long customers are happy to spend there.

Crest Nicholson Regeneration is building a mixed-use scheme, known as The Atrium, in Camberley town centre, and development director Martin Mortimer has put a lot of emphasis on getting the street right. Park Street is to be pedestrianised in order to link the town's existing Main Square shopping centre to the new retail and leisure mixed scheme, due to open in phases from December.

Mortimer says: "The frontages will all be retail, therefore it's very important that we create a retail environment for this to front onto.

"It took us a long time to choose and get the materials approved because it has to be pleasant for the shopper and has to be capable of being maintained and adopted by the local authorities."

Mortimer explains that Crest has chosen light-coloured materials to complement the rich brick and terracotta colour tones of the new architectural design, as well as to respect the existing retail on the other side of the street.

The paving has a curved design that leads customers into the covered atrium, where there are restaurants and leisure facilities, including a bowling alley and nine-screen cinema complex.

Mortimer and his team have also incorporated large marker trees which will act as focal points within the scheme, modern benches made from a mixture of timber and stainless steel, and timber planters.

"What we wanted to do with the seating and landscaping was to create interesting areas where people can sit, meet, talk and eat within the retail environment," he says. "We had to choose the locations carefully though because, although this is pedestrianised, at specified periods of the day we have to allow service vehicles through."

There will be a focal point at the junction of Park Street and Obelisk Way where people will gather. "We've put in a large mature marker tree and have changed the paving pattern," he says. "We've put in some very large, quality stone benches, which are very striking and have the appearance of being a sculpture without being one."

Crest Nicholson also had to introduce some public art, and this will feature within the same focal point. In addition the scheme has incorporated very chunky square section timber bollards which can be lowered to allow access for service vehicles. "Although they have that safety function they do add to the appearance of the street," explains Mortimer, who has also created a lighting feature to pull people into the entrance of the atrium.

Liz Bright of SMP, which specialises in the Metalco range of street furniture, says they will typically work with the architects who are involved in designing a scheme.

"They will usually have a clear idea in their mind of what they are trying to create," says Bright. "So we show them some examples of how we make that work and talk about their vision."

Metalco deals in materials from stainless steel, hard and soft wood and concrete, through to Bisazza mosaic (like that used in swimming pools) and sleek and sexy material from Pininfarina which is used by Ferrari.

"Metalco's forte is to bring different designers and materials together," Bright says. "The new range is Corten Steel."

Over the last two years Bright has seen a greater desire to get the street furniture element of a scheme right. "It's always been a focus of architects, and now the same is true of local authorities and developers. Local authorities want to attract new tenants and understand that the look of a place has to communicate investment in people."

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