Since 2018, Page\Park have been working closely with Milngavie BID, a community organisation formed of stakeholders and representatives of local businesses, to strategise and deliver a series of incremental projects in Milngavie Town Centre. This relationship began when Page\Park was appointed to develop proposals for an artwork in Milngavie town centre, at the start of the WHW. The initiative was business-led, and the success of this first project, completed in late 2018, has stimulated a wider programme of improvements in the town centre.

In 2020, Page\Park was asked to develop an expansion of the previous project, using seating and artwork to create a memorable moment in the public realm, shared by visitors and locals alike. Completed in late 2021, the result is a suite of furniture and wayfinding installations, over a newly re-paved area of the precinct.

Located at a key town centre node, the central part of the project is a new gathering area, formed of seating, planters, and interpretative elements. Located at the start of both the West Highland Way and the Allander Way, the area is frequently busy with large groups of walkers and tourists, in addition to families visiting the adjacent play park. The project identified a need to provide new furniture typologies – beyond the traditional two-seater bench – and a focal point for these visitors to comfortably meet and interact. The result is a bespoke seating area, capable of hosting larger groups, supplemented by new picnic tables by the play park entrance. The new bench seating is flexible, facing both inward and outward, and designed over two levels it provides valuable photo opportunities for tourists embarking on the walk. It is anchored in place by large planters, to soften the setting, and bounded on one side by a screen of wayfinding and graphics, linking the project to the WHW artwork, completed across Douglas Street in 2018.

In addition to improvements in the gathering area, the client and design team recognised the opportunity to sow the seeds for a wider programme of improved wayfinding around the town, to be delivered as future phases. This resulted in the design and installation of a prototype furniture piece on Station Road. The prototype is modular in design – comprising a corten and timber bench, wayfinding panel, and planter – and can be arranged in different configurations depending on location. The project recognises the important role the pedestrianised area of the town plays in gathering and directing locals and visitors alike, and a strategy has been developed for locating more of these units around the town, with the ambition of improving wayfinding, encouraging active travel, and sharing the history and stories of Milngavie through graphics and imagery.

In Spring 2023, an additional three of these units were installed in the public precinct.