VMM Bank

Given the client, it obviously satisfied a range of strict ecological requirements, even back then. But the bench offered even greater potential.

Selection for the Eco Design exhibition in Helsinki in 2012 prompted a rethink of the bench, to create a commercial product. Right from the beginning, the designers had envisaged a folding bench. The FEC version was not quite there, but its design did take this idea into account. It was possible to make the bench foldable without altering its exterior, and so improve its transport and storage options. The further refinements were made in collaboration with LABT. It was made lighter and it had to be suitable for outdoors, but the joins had to be seamless and invisible. The solution came in the form of Accoya-treated wood. This environmentally friendly treatment gives fast growing, less durable trees a quality similar to that of the tropical hardwoods. It makes the bench weather and heat resistant, but very light at the same time.

The colour is the result of a delicate lacquering process, which is only done once the components have been fitted together.