The Otōsan Bench

The Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist reached out looking for a bench to compliment the entryway to their property in the Oakland hills. The setting was tricky - there's a great landing area perfectly suited for a bench, but it wasn't quite big enough for standard installation, so we had to come up with a creative solution. 

Ultimately, we decided to place new concrete pads in the garden area behind the landing so the bench could straddle the landing and adjacent garden. Adding the new footings and offsetting the bench allowed us to keep it connected to the landing without infringing on pedestrian access. 

In addition to the bench, the Church leadership was interested in including a trashcan. Initially we worked on trying to integrate it within the frame of the bench, but ultimately decided to build it as a matching, but separate entity. 

To ensure that the bench seamlessly fit with the existing architecture we referenced the style of the building and the adjoining kiosk, and kept the frame color within the Church's paint pallet. 

Project specs:

Scope of work: design, fabrication, installation
Materials:  Powder-coated steel, VG douglas fir, stainless steel hardware
Completion date: June 2016