-Amazing Outdoor Benches That Make Sitting Down A Real Pleasure.
1. Urban Nights
Designed by the folks at Runge in Germany (specialists in benches), this bench is constructed with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sustainable wood, and it’s fitted with soft, green LED (light-emitting diode) lighting.
The LEDs require very little energy, and the lighting is subdued so as to not pollute the evening sky with unnecessary illumination.
2. Eco Bus Shelter
Check out this amazing bus shelter that’s been designed by Ramesh Kanth. The Eco-Friendly Bus Shelter is not just a place to hide out from the rain while waiting for the bus, it also comes equipped with a rainwater harvesting system.
Instead of just allowing rain water to flow off of the bus shelter into the stormwater system, rain that falls on this bus shelter lands on the rooftop, gets funneled into an unpaved area which then allows the water to slowly percolate into the groundwater table. It’s another great example of how bus shelters can be remade.
3. Solar Bench
This simple bench design by Solar Inside integrates thin-film solar panels that collect energy throughout the day that provides both wi-fi and power for lights at night.
To add to the green credibility, these benches are made from recycled aluminum and plastic.
4. Biodegradable Biotube Bench
Made from biodegradable recycled cardboard, this Bio Tube Bench designed by Julia Lwin literally grows! He was quoted in Treehugger as saying: “The Biotube bench is really an experimental ‘ephemeral’ or seasonal bench – so it will indeed biodegrade – the real point being the individual (1/4” thick walled) recycled tubes which are manufactured for rolling carpets and fabrics are perfect containers to grow seedlings from.
The seating concept is really secondary, however in it’s non degraded state it is very durable and quite comfortable.
Each individual seed saturated tube can be positioned in an outdoor urban or domestic environment (the cardboard tubes can be filled with newspaper/soil/sawdust etc to assist with the mulching) add water and sunlight – a garden is formed.
The photo showing the bench with seedlings is an indoor example of how the bench could look before it biodegrades in to an organic mulch bed – as an indoor bench the tubes work very well as a planter!”
5. Petal Bench
From designer Je Sung Park, this Petal Bench is a fantastic creation. Fitted with a solar photovoltaic array, the bench collects sunlight during the day, which it then uses to light up the area at night. Plus, like a blossoming flower, the Petal Bench unfurls as the seats come down to create a fun, cheerful sitting space.
These unique and spunky benches are really a functional replica of nature—they follow the sun during the day, open wide to gather the sunshine, and then they close up like flowers at night as the sun dips below the horizon.
6. Fitness First Outdoor
If eating less is environmentally-friendly (and it is), then this bench is a great solution, though perhaps a bit invasive.
Developed for a Dutch fitness club, the bench weighs people using an internal scale and displays the results—to the whole world! May make you think twice about eating that extra hamburger or those GMO corn tortillas…
7. Heated Outdoor Bench
Made with concrete, this outdoor bench flows with warm, steamy sewage! Pedestrians and commuters no longer have to sit on a stone cold bench while waiting for a ride.
Instead, as the grey water from the local sewage facility flows through it, it stays nice and toasty warm (15 degrees C or about roughly 60 F). The heated outdoor bench was designed by two University of Quebec Design students, Corinne Farmer and Clara Charbonneau’s Béton Armé.
