From humble beginnings in a private shed at the back of Richard Haynes’ property, Street and Park Furniture was born. It was the late 1980s, and Haynes, a former engineer with Adelaide Brighton Cement, saw a gap in the market for public seating, and decided to tackle the issue head on. Haynes held a strong belief that, “Better Cities Begin at Street Level”, and this principle remains central to SPARK’s ethos to this day.

Opening the first assembly site in a small warehouse at Chapel Street, Norwood, Haynes continued to grow the business supplying to South Australian local councils a range of cast furniture items and bin enclosures he designed in collaboration with Andrew Rogers.

Early ranges included the Forum and Concourse suites, with Parade, Boulevard, Esplanade, and Corso suites following not long after.

In 1998, young entrepreneur Cameron Johnston, fresh out of Marketing Management and with a Bachelor of Business degree, seized the opportunity to buy the company. Working with local South Australian suppliers, Johnston continued the traditions forged by Haynes, slowly incorporating more steel fabrication to compliment the popular existing cast iron offerings.

In 2006, with business booming and local suppliers under additional pressure, due to the closure of Woodroffes Sheet Metal (manufacturers, at that time, of Street and Park bin enclosures), Johnston made the decision to purchase Rowlands Metalworks.

Established in 1956 and located in Magill, Rowlands Metalworks were a long-established sheet metal company specialising in electrical cabinetry. Later, and with Johnston’s formation of Pecan Lighting, and the continued growth of both Street and Park Furniture and Rowlands Metalworks, it wasn’t long before Johnston sought a modern, purpose-built facility to house all three companies. Land was sourced and construction commenced on the Lonsdale manufacturing facility, in 2008.

In 2016, Street and Park Furniture underwent a brand review, primarily seeking to understand both their current offering and formulate their vision for the future. The new name, SPARK, encapsulates the combination of ‘street’ and ‘park’ and describes a young, vibrant, intelligent, collaborative and forward-thinking organisation.

Still based in Lonsdale, Rowlands Metalworks, Pecan Lighting, and SPARK Furniture share a state-of-the-art production facility, extending over four sites, including our most recent acquisition, in 2022, of Defence Coatings Systems.

Known collectively as Rowlands Group, the organisation employs over 100 people, both locally and interstate.

SPARK are incredibly proud of our team of exceptionally skilled and dedicated industrial designers, specialist metal and timber workers, and our sales, marketing, operations, and support staff.

A wholly Australian owned and operated group of businesses, the Johnston Group are proud to support local suppliers and operators throughout Australia.

In everything we do, SPARK continues to prove that Better Cities Begin at Street Level.