Creating spaces: While working with The Ohio State University on their new innovation campus, it became evident that a variety of seating elements and spaces would be needed to fit the needs of different groups using the outdoor plaza. Serving as an identifiable and branded piece for the space, the bench at Carmenton is completely custom to the Innovation Plaza.

The goal to create an occupiable edge to the plaza was met through the ideation of the bench’s form. It lends itself to serve as a flexible addition to the new campus. Careful thought was put into every aspect of the bench’s design, from the curve of its shape to the color.

The design: The bench itself is light in nature, seemingly coming out of the plantings behind them, covered by the shade of newly planted birch trees. The sense of floating creates a comfortable, approachable space to read, eat lunch, or chat with a colleague. It serves as a beacon to watch activity going on within the plaza, sitting along the edge of the activated spaces around the campus.