AHEC unveils three COVID-proof outdoor benches at Dubai Design Week 2020

The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the leading
international trade association for the American hardwood industry, has unveiled three
COVID-proof outdoor benches at Dubai Design Week 2020. The design collaboration –
Please Sit Here – challenged three prominent Emirati designers to develop versatile public
seating solutions in thermally-modified American hardwoods.
According to 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 the
virus, 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 behavior 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 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 meters.
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
will ensure 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 and also in 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.
The three designers were offered a choice of two American hardwood species – hard maple
and red oak. Together, these species account for nearly 25 percent of the eastern
hardwood forests of the USA, one of the largest and most sustainable hardwood resources
in the world. Because the benches are for outdoor use, the maple and red oak offered was
thermally-modified, involving high heat in a vacuum, carried out after normal kiln drying.
Thermally-modified timber (TMT) is ideal for exterior application, as it has both increased
durability and dimensional stability. Specified widely across India, thermally-modified
American hardwoods are suitable for applications such as cladding, decking and shading
structures, as well as in outdoor furniture and their environmental impact is extremely low.
They have much to offer as a natural and low- environmental impact alternative to many
other wood and non-wood products.
Jalees by Aljoud Lootah in thermally-modified American red oak has been designed to
recognize the primitive characteristics of outdoor benches found around the UAE and in
every Emirati home. Jalees in Arabic translates to being seated securely in place and also
means companion. According to Lootah, this seating design pays tribute to its minimal
structure and attributes. The essential vertical and horizontal red oak members have
inspired the minimalist design of this outdoor bench creating an appealing modern
interpretation.
“Taking into consideration the post-COVID social distancing requirements, this bench
creates a flexible seating system for all users. Contrasting the horizontal octagonal
thermally-modified American red oak members are circular seats with metal inserts that
slide along the length of the bench to create social distancing when needed between
strangers and to bring family together at the same time. Additional seats could be added or
removed from the bench according to the requirements of the user,” said Aljoud Lootah.
Contrasting the natural hardwood is a playful pop of color – yellow – that is minimally added
on the interior of the bench both for visual aesthetic and structural purposes, along with
three metal arches to stop the seats from moving further along the bench. Smaller sliding
and removable tables are also placed between the two seats to provide the users with a
space to place their cups of coffee, phones or small personal belongings.
Pop Up by Khalid Shafar in thermally-modified American hard maple with thermallymodified American red oak detailing has been inspired by the ‘80s. Neon linear lights, adboards, the energy in the era’s synth wave music, catchy pop colors in the fashion industry
and the retro cyber-techno theme all served to inspire the design of the Pop Up smart
outdoor bench to portray the ‘80s energy and to convey the optimism and strength that we
need to overcome the current COVID-19 pandemic with the hope for a brighter and
stronger future.
“From the launch of the first space shuttle and the release of the first IBM computers to the
fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, the ‘80s offered hope to humanity to
once again achieve the impossible and for people to chase their wildest dreams. The energy
and passion expressed in their supercharged aesthetics still reflect the 1980s in the current
decade,” said Khalid Shafar.
Wahda Bench by Hamad Khoory in thermally-modified American hard maple has been
inspired by the traditional majlis with its inherent values of humility, equality and
community. According to Khoory, the Wahda bench is an exploration of connection and
separation.
“Employing thermally-modified hard maple in cuboid modular units of seat, tree, planter
and sanitization, the modules engage with a linear comb-like thermally-modified maple
base, a plug-and- play approach of slipping into and out of the comb, with many possible
configurations. The bench is thus an expression of community and disunity, with the
separated seat modules slipping out of the main bench, and then slipping back when the
social distancing measures of the COVID-19 pandemic are no longer required, creating the
final bench form,” added Khoory.
Using material volume data collected by the UAE-based manufacturers – Urban Studio and
Alfa Interiors & Furniture – and based on AHEC’s Life Cycle Assessment tool, it has calculated
that all the maple and red oak used to make the three benches would be replaced in the US
hardwood forest through natural regeneration in just 5.8 seconds. At the same time, for the
duration of their existence, the three benches will keep approximately 1 metric ton of CO2
equivalent out of the atmosphere.
“It is a delight to see the different approaches that all three designers took with this topical
brief. Aljoud, Hamad and Khalid clearly enjoyed this challenge and their designs are
innovative, playful, practical and beautiful. The attention to detail on the benches is high
and the craftsmanship excellent, which serves to highlight the beauty of the thermallymodified American maple and red oak used,” concluded Roderick Wiles, AHEC Regional
Director