Hoardings & temporary structure approvals

Apply creative artwork to hoardings

Project Status: When you need to do this

We require the use of original artwork on some hoardings.

Our creative hoardings program aims to transform the visual impact of construction sites. It also provides opportunities for artists to showcase their work on a large scale in very visible locations.

What you need to do

See which graphic is right for your site

For more detail, please refer to ‘design requirements’ in the guidelines for hoardings and scaffolding.

Site type	4–8 weeks	9–26 weeks	26+ weeks
Heritage-listed building, city centre	Historic images	Historic images	Historic images
Heritage-listed building, non-city centre	Graphics are not required	Historic images*	Historic images
Heritage conservation area, non-city centre	Graphics are not required	Historic images*	Historic images
City centre, high visibility (high traffic or pedestrian area)	Artwork	Artwork	Artwork
City centre, low visibility (low traffic and pedestrian movement or laneways)	Artwork	Artwork	Artwork
Non-city centre, high visibility (high traffic major transport corridor or pedestrian area)	Graphics are not required	Artwork	Artwork
Non-city centre, low visibility (minor local street with low traffic and pedestrian movement)	Graphics are not required	Historic images*	Artwork

*Graphics only required if hoarding installed for more than 12 weeks. See table 1 in the guidelines for hoardings and scaffolding.

Select a graphic design option

There are 4 design options for hoardings:
- City of Sydney-licensed artwork (sometimes referred to as Site Works)
- bespoke artwork that you create or commission
- historic images
- bespoke historic.
Get approval

Follow the process to gain approval for your chosen option.
Printing and installation

There are a number of large format printing firms in the Sydney region that can print and install graphics on hoardings.

Some commercial suppliers of hoardings can also arrange to print and install the graphics as a packaged service.

We do not make the arrangements for, or cover the costs of, printing and installing your hoarding artworks.

Guides

The creative graphic design guide outlines how you design, print and install graphics for hoardings and scaffolding in the City of Sydney area. It also describes the approval process for creative graphics. Find general requirements and minimum performance standards in the guidelines for hoarding and scaffolding.

Development guidelines & policies
Creative graphic design guide for hoardings and scaffoldingPublished 7 February 2024
Development guidelines & policies
Guidelines for hoardings and scaffoldingPublished 21 November 2016

Lucy Simpson's creative hoarding Ngaarr at 570 George Street — ‘Ngaarr’ by Lucy Simpson at 570 George Street.

City of Sydney-licensed artwork

A collection of original, contemporary Australian artworks has been exclusively licensed for use on construction sites as part of our creative hoardings program. The collection is sometimes referred to as Site Works.

These works are freely available to developers for display on hoardings within the City of Sydney area.

We aim to:

provide artists with the opportunity to display their work on a large scale to a broad audience
animate public spaces with temporary artworks
transform the visual impact of construction sites, bringing creativity into the everyday, making Sydney a more vibrant place to live, work and visit.

View the artworks on our program page.

What you need to do

Nominate artworks and gain approval.

Please note that the following artworks are temporarily unavailable for use: Midnight Zoo, Ngaarr, Time Forms, Magic Circles.
Download approved artwork.
Set up artwork in InDesign.
Gain approval.

More detail is provided in our creative graphic design guide for hoardings and scaffolding. See 1.1 Site Works artworks process.

Bespoke hoardings artwork of Sydney harbour bridge and the Sydney Opera house at Circular Quay. — Bespoke artwork on hoardings at One Circular Quay.

Bespoke artwork that you create or commission

Bespoke artworks are stand-alone works of art that enliven streetscapes and engage the public. They provide you an opportunity to create an intriguing and beautiful piece of street art for the community, as opposed to artwork that has promotional content.

The program aims to increase the opportunities for living Australian artists to create and display original artworks at large scale in public places, strengthening our creative sector.

If you are proposing to use a bespoke artwork, start the process to engage the artist and obtain approval of your concept design before lodging a hoarding application. Please allow enough lead time for all related steps.

We do not make the arrangements for, or cover the costs of engaging the artist or licensing artworks, or printing and installing your hoarding artworks.

Cultural Projects Coordinator

: 02 9265 9978
: [email protected]

Ask for help

We’re happy to walk you through this process. The benefit of keeping to these guidelines, and realising the spirit of creating interesting ‘street art’, is your hoarding application will be approved much faster.

Due to the varying nature of hoarding sizes and shapes, you are free to size individual elements, such as logos, artist information and project information as best suits the overall design. Remember, the spirit of ‘bespoke graphics’ and our creative hoardings program is to enliven streetscapes.

If you’d like advice on how best to create your hoarding artwork, we’d love to help you. We can help you find, engage, and brief artists. We can also introduce you to cultural organisations you could partner with to create something fantastic.

Remember you will need an example for your application

You will need to provide an example of your bespoke graphics with your application for assessment and approval. Further details are available in clause 3.4 of the guidelines for hoardings and scaffolding.