DEFINITION
Broadly defined, a bench is a structure designed and built to provide a place for people to sit. Typically they provide seating for 2-4 people. Some benches are made from materials found in the location where they are installed (for example, benches made out of branches or tree trunks) while others are made commercially.

AKA
Seat, outdoor furniture, park bench, garden bench, etc.

RELATED FUNCTIONS
Benches primarily allow for social interaction, and may increase social acceptance/inclusion and improve the strength of social connections.

Benches can be artistic expressions and add to the visual interest of a place.

Benches can also be incorporated into many high performance landscapes, even ones that are not aimed at addressing the social system. For example, benches can be built in nature reserves (biological system) to encourage visitors to observe the natural environment.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Criteria for bench design include desired seating capacity and the desired goal of the bench, for example to provide a place to rest, or a place to observe a specific sight.

The performance of a bench include the number of users and if the goal of the bench has been successful.

Fundamentally however, a bench needs to be comfortable in order to fulfill its primary objective, to provide a place for people to sit. Benches that are unused because of discomfort have failed.

ILLUSTRATION

Typical Bench:




Artistic bench:






CASE STUDIES
links to planning and policy case studies (metropolitan scale) or high performance landscape case studies (site-scale) documenting specific places or projects where this asset is a key feature

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_%28furniture%29