City Centre benches can be magnets for crime and antisocial behaviour, attracting thieves, rough sleepers, problem drinkers, graffiti and skateboarders. In some central London areas, virtually all the street benches had to be removed due to residents’ complaints. It was time for a new approach.
Tim Long and Jane Debono commissioned design of a new bench for the London Borough of Camden, delivering a detailed (and demanding) design brief based on a list of problems Camden had experienced in maintaining street furniture. The bench was designed by Factory Furniture, with strong direction by Long and Delano who also brought in a team of stakeholders to advise on the 15 sketch designs and suggest adjustments. These experts formed the Bench Design Group and included Professors Lorraine Gamman and Adam Thorpe from the Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC) at the University of the Arts London, plus Adam Lindsay, Crime Prevention Design Advisor from the Metropolitan Police Camden, plus members of Camden staff from areas such as Camden Transport Planning, Sites Team, Highways Engineers, Community Safety, Street Policy, Conservation and Urban Design, Street Cleansing and the recycling centre Operations Manager, and the DDA officer.
This breadth of expertise was intended to ensure the new bench would meet a wide variety of urban challenges. The result aims to improve activity support in public space and resist criminal or antisocial behaviour through the following features:
- Anti-graffiti coating.
- Anti-postering – it has few flat surfaces, except the ends, which have the Camden logo cast into the bench so it is easier to pull off any posters.
- Difficult to skateboard on – as the edge of the bench fluctuates in height.
- Anti-rough sleeping – bench has a peaked top that cannot be slept on.
- Deters drug dealing as thee are no cracks or slots in the bench in which to hide materials.
- Deters bag theft as slot along each side allows people to position bags behind their legs.
- Easy to slightly move the bench, removing it from problem areas, as it sits on the footway and is not bolted to a foundation.
- Reduces littering as it has no flat surfaces or slots to leave litter on.
- Designed for water and litter to flow off it with no slots that can trap water.
- A stand-alone bin has also been designed in the range, which can be placed next to the bench. However, an improved bench is being delivered imminently, with bins inserted into the ends of the bench.
- The bins help reduce littering as they cannot be tipped over and contain a cigarette bin.
There are a range of benches, so the right solution can be provided for precise locations, targeting specific problems.
Prototyping
After the first iteration was located on site in a new square opposite Freemasons Hall, Covent Garden, the Bench Design Group experts were consulted, in addition to Keep Britain Tidy, and interviews were conducted with the public. Further refinements to the design briefs were made and subsequent solutions were recommended and implemented. The revised benches were then installed at this site.
The anti-terrorism version was developed later by Factory Furniture and CPNI officers. This heavier bench includes a foundation, and has passed the first test (to resist a given impact, under specified conditions)
Achievements
Observational study has shown that people have quickly taken to using the bench. In fact, Camden are pleased to find people sitting on it in ways research did not predict. They seem more comfortable sharing it (compared to a park bench), possibly due to the larger size and the opportunity to sit facing away from others.
A further positive accolade is that this first installation is one block from a homeless hostel, on the edge of the 24-hour economy in Covent Garden, and is surrounded by high-value flats, yet no complaints have been received to date, unlike many other areas of Covent Garden, Bloomsbury, and Camden Town. Further interest in the bench has also developed, as an anti-terrorist opportunity, linked to police recommendations.
Tim Long from Camden comments ‘I believe the Camden bench sets new standards: in reducing antisocial behaviour, simplifying street cleaning and creating a much more inclusive design (as the benches address about 28 different design issues). The new counter-terrorism version contains many of the features that reduce antisocial behaviour and make it easier to clean and more inclusive, and so we are much more likely to use this version in high profile locations.’ (October 2010). Keep Britain Tidy have subsequently documented the design process of the bench and bin as best practice.