OCULUS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the places we work.

We honour Elders past and present, whose profound knowledge systems can teach us much about how we care and design for Country.

Parametric Seating Design

21 November 2024

By OCULUS

A close-up photo of a sinuous timber bench seat.

Image: StraBe Group

We designed a pair of flowing parametric public benches for 150 Londsdale Street at Wesley Place on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne. The complex designs wrap curving brick walls and accommodate a sloping passageway.

Parametric design is the use of algorithmic modelling to calculate complicated geometries within set parameters. Today the process is software-based, but the principles are said to have been used since Antoni Gaudí modelled buildings with weighted strings over one hundred years ago.

A photograph of 12 smiling people sitting on a long, curving bench.

These softly glowing seats, crafted by StraBe Group, offer a contrast to the cold formality of the bluestone colonnade linking Lonsdale and Little Lonsdale streets at Wesley Place. The warmth of the sustainably sourced spotted gum timber and the free-flowing form of the CNC (computer numerical control) routed panels introduce a playful sculptural element that embraces the gentle slope to offer a variety of comfortable seating positions.

One bench features a deep lounge position beneath the glow of the skylight, that encourages visitors to lie back and look up to Maree Clarke’s Gulinj-al Ngulu Kerr-up-non Biik-u (The Voice of Kulin Country) artwork (fabricated by Canberra Glassworks, curated by Broached Commissions). The other seat traces the curves of COX Architecture’s brick façade.

If you’re in Melbourne, you’re welcome to go and take a seat!

A concept design sketch for a curved timber bench.
A digital render of a bench seat flowing down a sloping ground.
A white, 3D printed architectural model.
A screenshot of a parametric design process, with small boxes linked by flowing lines.
A timber prototype section of a unique, parametric, bench seat.
A photograph of a glowing wooden bench.
A photograph of two flowing parametric benches. They are wooden with glowing light from within.

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