Studio Meanwhile, City Blocks Urban Furniture
In 2024, City Blocks partnered with the City of Lethbridge to launch a flexible, city-supported parklet program. Something unheard of in prairie town urbanism. Instead of leaving it up to each business to design and fund their own patio, the city stepped up as a partner. They provided Super Blocks, our modular, beautifully designed parklet system that restaurants can rent, making it easier and more affordable for small businesses to expand into the street and serve additional guests in summer months. This wasn’t only about adding tables and chairs. It was about building a new kind of civic infrastructure, one where a street becomes a destination, a place to linger, to sip a latte, to meet a friend and hang out. With Super Blocks, businesses gained the space to grow, and the public gained a more vibrant, people-friendly street.It’s proof that big urban wins often start with small, smart moves. When you design streets for people, cities come alive and places thrive.
Hoop fence, Pocket Block Seats & Planters were all powder coated to match the City of Lethbridge's vibrant brand colour palette.
The plants on either end add to the colourful presence of this parklet while supporting urban pollinators.
Studio Meanwhile and City Blocks has the privilege of working from the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō (Sto:lo), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations, also known as Vancouver, British Columbia. While this is our local home, we recognize that our work extends into the global realm of public space and has an impact on contested, politicised lands that have been and continue to be stewarded by many different and distinct local groups. It is our intention to help elevate these spaces in respectful and honourable collaboration with those who inhabit them, to further our mission to make public space available and accessible, for all people.
