Covid-Proof Outdoor Benches From US Hardwoods

‘Please Sit Here’ challenged three prominent Emirati designers to develop versatile public seating solutions in thermally-modified American hardwoods, which were featured at the Dubai Design Week, 2020.

According to the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), “social distancing” – a captivating oxymoron coined to reference the space we need to leave between each other – has begun to dominate the way we live and the decisions we make.

While incredibly important in the fight against the spread of Covid-19, it also curbs our freedom of choice and forces us to behave in an unnatural way. People are social by nature and regulations that inhibit normal social behaviour do not come naturally.

In response to this, three prominent Emirati designers – Aljoud Lootah, Khalid Shafar, Hamad Khoory and their teams – were invited by AHEC to each design and develop a hardwood bench for outdoor use in a public space.

The concept

The bench needed to be designed in such a way that people who sit on it are forced to separate by the current social distancing minimum of 2 metres. This would negate the need for warning signs and allow for people to sit in a relaxed way without having to think about whether they are too close to the next person.

However, the design of the bench would also allow for conversion to accommodate more people, closer together, as and when the time comes for social distancing regulations to be relaxed. This ensures that the benches retain a legacy as functional public seating in the future. ‘Please Sit Here’ draws inspiration from the AHEC’s many high-profile and ambitious collaborations to date, in the UAE, Europe, Australia and South Africa. These projects have included multiple design teams, imaginative briefs, innovative designs and the very best of wood craftsmanship, to celebrate the beauty, performance and sustainability of American hardwoods.