Creative Hoardings: How Sydney made construction hoardings beautiful

Sydney’s Creative Hoardings programme transforms the temporary structures that surround construction sites into large-scale canvases for contemporary Australian art. Launched as part of Sydney’s Creative City Action Plan, it responds directly to public demand for cultural initiatives that enliven public spaces and integrate creativity into the fabric of daily life. The programme reimagines hoardings and scaffolding—often seen as unsightly barriers—as surprising urban galleries that improve the city’s visual environment and generate new financial opportunities for artists.

From regulation to cultural activation

The programme grew from changes to the City’s Guidelines for Hoardings and Scaffolding, which are managed by the Construction and Building Certification Unit. As the authority responsible for approving temporary structures, the City recognised the potential for regulation to serve cultural policy goals. In 2016, it became compulsory for builders and developers to apply creative graphics to hoardings on public land. This policy not only improved visual amenity but also limited the dominance of developer advertising.

Initially, only large corporations and institutions had the resources to commission bespoke artworks for their sites. To make the process more accessible, the City of Sydney began commissioning a suite of ten artworks every three years, providing them free of charge to builders and developers as ready-to-use designs. From 2016 to 2025, more than 320 construction sites across Sydney have featured Creative Hoardings, showcasing the work of thirty contemporary Australian artists. This model ensures quality and consistency while building relationships between artists and the private sector.

Public feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with residents noting how the hoardings brighten streetscapes, create moments of curiosity, and soften the visual impact of construction. Media coverage has been extensive, and the City has recorded a notable decrease in graffiti and unauthorised bill posters on treated hoardings.

Increasing income and exposure for local artists

The City issues an open call for artists and manages a peer selection process to guarantee high standards. Selected artists are paid above industry-standard fees for licensing their work, with each piece used on up to twenty hoardings. The City supplies artwork templates along with design and installation guides, while developers cover the costs of printing, installing and maintaining the works.

To avoid overexposure of any one design, the City monitors where and how artworks are used, ensuring a balanced distribution across Sydney. Since 2016, the programme has expanded to include bespoke commissions and archival imagery for heritage-listed developments, celebrating the city’s built heritage alongside its contemporary creativity.

The programme has licensed the work of 30 artists and paid AUD 372,000 in artist fees to date, exceeding industry standards and generating direct sales and new commercial opportunities for participating artists.

Sydney’s Creative Hoardings is a benchmark example of embedding artistic engagement into regulatory and operational processes. By linking construction compliance with cultural activation, the City has created a sustainable model that has been adopted by other Australian cities and is now influencing public realm strategies internationally.