Meeting Place | Burwood Bus Depot

Situated at Burwood Bus Depot, off Parramatta Road, Australia's oldest highway, ‘Meeting Place’ is a mural celebrating Lorna Hutchings, the first female bus driver at Burwood Bus Depot. The design shows an AEC Regent III double-decker bus with a license plate "1974.TS", representing the year Lorna began driving at Burwood Bus Depot.

Two Australian Reed Warblers meet among parts of a former Regent Double decker bus in restoration. A scene where two warblers meet symbolises Burwood as an important place for meeting between Sydney City and Western Sydney for resources such as Burwood Library or for the buzzing atmosphere, diversity and rich cultural flavours found throughout Burwood Chinatown. The theme of yarn bomb and knitting is central throughout the design as it celebrates the character of Lorna Hutchings, her love for knitting, and the movement of street art throughout the inner west and innercity suburbs of Sydney.

The Yarn Bomb movement was originally to reclaim and personalise sterile or cold public places. The yarn balls and knitted wear also symbolise when a fellow bus driver would have a newborn baby, Lorna would sew gift hampers for them containing shawls, beanies, booties and other of her enthusiastic knitted creations.

This project was funded by the NSW Government Department of Planning and Environment delivered in collaboration with Transport for NSW and Transit Systems Sydney.