The “Wave” bench is a creative, whimsical solution to the personal space issue in public seating. Most people understand the concept of the personal space bubble, but there’s the occasional individual who sits unnecessarily close, making those subjected to the closeness uncomfortable. The “Wave” bench prevents close sitters by using its form to delineate the proper spacing of seated individuals. Architects and designers fawn over objects and spaces that are so well designed, they produce a desired effect without obvious signage or restrictive devices.

Wave. Designed by Allermuir.

The “Wave” bench was chosen as the winning entry in a Danish competition, which was presided over by a panel of judges including Nanna Ditzel, Niels Gammelgaard and Philip Thonet. The parameters of the competition sought furniture designs that would “express the use of formed laminated ply construction in beautiful and innovative ways suitable for mass production.” The bench was chosen for its simplicity, elegance, and “well-balanced design that could be used in any building context.”

Allermuir is a commercial furniture company based out of England that features many well known designers. Carsten Schmidt and Jens Bredsdorff are the designers of the Wave. Both designers are based in Copenhagen, Denmark, where they met while studying at Copenhagen’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Jens was an Architecture major, and Carsen a graduate of Industrial Design. The designers have collaborated in the past, but the Wave is their most recent joint endeavor.

Allermuir not only has its eye on great designers, but they are also watching out for the environment. The company policy is to reduce first, reuse second and recycle third, with a goal to limit materials that need to be recycled. They have a recycling furniture program which takes back used furniture to the tune of 2500 items of used furniture per month. Recycled content can be found in most of their products.; The Wave, for example, contains 41% recycled content and is 100% recyclable.