London design studio Raw Edges has created a range of concrete street furniture for Greenwich Peninsula, which is designed to look like "scaled-up" armchairs.
Raw Edges created the concrete seating for the Greenwich Peninsula development scheme – one of the largest regeneration projects in London. They are located outside the O2 arena, and will remain in place for the next 10 years.
Each chair comes in three heights – small, medium and tall. When arranged together, they are designed to evoke the sitting patterns of people resting on makeshift seating, such as walls and steps.
"In the city we can find relaxing spots that were not meant to become seats – like stairs, pavements edges and low brick walls," said the studio, which was set up by Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay after they graduated from London's Royal College of Art in 2007.
"We looked into this behaviour; this hunter's eye that looks for the ideal resting position, like a student during a lunch break or a bunch of friends sitting on the pavement and came up with this small urban landscape that is made from a cluster of concrete units."
Different combinations of seating heights subsequently create a variety of sitting, or laying, options for passers-by.
"We have created scaled-up armchair-like seats that form an urban texture that invites people to step on, climb and relax," the designers said.
This is the studio's first pursuit into long-term outdoor fixtures. Previous designs include wooden furniture with rainbow-hued zigzag patterns and floral rugs that use lenticular patterns to change colour.
Greenwich Peninsula is a project masterplanned by British architecture firm Allies and Morrison, which is also designing two residential blocks for the site.
It is part of an £8.4 billion regeneration project on the riverside site, which is to include 15,720 homes, a film studio, as well as a new design district, schools, offices and healthcare services.
It's also the location of the Now Gallery, which recently hosted a colourful labyrinth-like installation by designer Camille Walala.