Expanding concrete and stone’s enduring appeal for outdoor seating

Concrete and other aggregate-based materials have become mainstays for outdoor seating and benches thanks to their exceptional durability and strong aesthetic appeal. Today, new innovations — including advanced manufacturing techniques and varied aggregate types — are further enhancing the versatility of concrete. These contemporary forms are playing a growing role in the creation of outdoor environments that are not only visually striking, but also practical, accessible and inclusive.

A new creative dimension to BSFG’s range

Metalco’s established and popular range of concrete and aggregate products, made accessible in the UK by Bailey Street Furniture Group (BSFG), enables clients to expand their creative thinking when designing the public realm.

In particular, Metalco’s HPC (high performance concrete) and UHPC (ultra-high performance concrete) products have already transformed the potential for seating provision in public spaces in recent years. This is primarily due to the superior strength, durability, and design flexibility these materials offer compared to traditional concrete, resulting in more slender, elegant, and longer-lasting seating solutions that can withstand harsh environmental conditions and heavy use.

HPC also has new creative potential thanks to recent innovations by Metalco. It has introduced new colour options for HPC, giving new aesthetic scope for benches and seating products such as its iconic Folly bench. As a result, HPC products from Metalco are now available in five different colours – white, grey, dark grey, green and yellow – all featuring its VELLUTO natural smooth finish as standard.

Whichever concrete or aggregate based materials are chosen for outdoor benches and seating, however, there are a number of major benefits that make them an attractive proposition for public spaces, including locations with the most demanding environmental conditions.

Durability, weather-resistance and a long lifespan

As the UK climate experiences more frequent extremes of heat, cold, rainfall and dry spells, the properties of all materials use in external applications is being put to the test more than ever. This is why durability is one of the most important advantages of choosing HPC and other concrete or aggregate materials for street furniture.

These materials are extremely effective at resisting the impact of rain, sunlight, frost and heavy winds without deterioration. As a result, they are particularly popular in coastal locations as one recent BSFG project in North Wales illustrates.

In the Hirael Flood Prevention Scheme, BSFG was tasked with providing street furniture and cycle parking for a newly enhanced public footpath and cycle route running alongside a newly installed flood defence system. This was part of a significant infrastructure upgrade, including new flood gates and raised promenade walls, with the aim of providing protection against coastal flooding for nearly 200 properties in Bangor while promoting sustainable travel and community well-being.

BSFG provided a cohesive range of marble-stone and granite products from Metalco for this scheme. Two types of seating manufactured from PDM (reconstituted marble stone) were supplied with complementary aesthetics – the Anastasio monolithic seat with inclined sides and Makatite benches. These were combined with BSFG’s bespoke marble-stone and granite planters, and the unique Smeraldo cycle stand which features a spiral steel tube and marble-stone/granite ends.

Their robust materials also mean they offer effective vandal resistance, with less susceptibility to damage or defacing compared to materials such as wood or metal, and they stand the test of time well in heavier-duty locations like busy parks, campuses and transport stops. In addition, there is little or no need for maintenance throughout the product’s lifespan, limiting the requirement for cleaning, repainting, staining or re-sealing, helping to minimise whole-life costs.

Blending heavy-duty performance with original aesthetics

Durability criteria are important in the material specification for every outdoor project, but where concrete and aggregate materials deliver additional value is in their ability to offer a demanding level of performance whilst also enabling ambitious aesthetic goals to be achieved.

An excellent example of this is the BSFG project completed at the Stockport Interchange & Merseyway Shopping Centre. The brief for design-led, functional seating solutions here was an important dimension to this redevelopment scheme, which has delivered a local hub used by thousands of people every day.

Here, the playful Splash bench and the robust, timeless Tree Line Bench, manufactured in HPC and PDM respectively, were provided by BSFG. The sculptured, organic shape of Splash beautifully complements the curved form of the Tree Line Bench, resulting in non-linear variation across the public space and adding visual interest.

Aesthetic appeal and design versatility were also priorities in another recently completed project by BSFG at Islington Square, north London. This complex and locally significant residential and retail development sought to bring variety back to a prominent high street, with boutique shops, unique retailers and events spaces in a scheme which also retained the Edwardian facade of a former postal sorting office.

With aesthetics a key consideration in every element of the project, BSFG were approached to provide street furniture solutions that would match the client’s ambitions. A selection of BSFG’s stone seating and planter elements featuring distinctive designs were proposed, including the interactive Up Bench. This is a sculptural and modular seat, manufactured from HPC which were used at Islington Square in combined runs to create snaking blocks of social seating.

The Up Bench was used alongside the curvaceous monolith concrete Arrowhead range. This is an exclusive range of unified concrete seating and planter elements designed to allow an infinite array of possibilities within urban furniture composition and arrangement. Two variations were provided for this project – a hollowed-out planter and a solid-top bench version.

Creating safe, sustainable outdoor environments

Given the long lifespan and low maintenance requirements of street furniture products manufactured in materials like HPC and PDM, they are also ideal for projects where sustainable development goals are central to the strategy.

One such project in which BSFG was involved was the Kenilworth Sixth Form and Academy development in Warwickshire. This was the largest school building project in England at the time of its construction in September 2023, designed to accommodate 2,200 pupils, with a landscape that sought to enhance both the student and teacher experiences.

Sustainability was a priority here, with a variety of innovative steps taken, including designing each wing of the building with mini plant gardens between them. Their self-sustaining design means these gardens use rainwater collected from the roof to irrigate the plants.

To ensure students, staff and teachers maximised use of the external spaces, an attractive podium was created. This was created using curved concrete seating provided by BSFG with the result being the formation of a standout feature in a recreational space designed for students to gather and socialise.

To find out more about the benefits of concrete and aggregate-based street furniture products including seating, benches and tables, please visit - www.bsfg.co.uk