Strijp-S Eindhoven, the Netherlands

Eindhoven Municipality (Gemeente)

In June 2024, we were invited to the Eindhoven Municipality (Gemeente) for a meeting that would kickstart our first project. During this meeting, many parties were involved and it was decided that 3 pieces of furniture were to be designed, manufactured, and placed at the highly-popular Strijp-S neighbourhood. In fact, they were to be placed in the high-traffic Torenallee.

Knowing our assignment, we conducted some research on what the space needed, both in terms of biodiversity reintegration and human usage. In collaboration with Vebego, we decided on using indigenous species that not only attract many beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies, but also have some color throughout most of the year. We also created an insect hotel and a hedgehog house to house different species that lost their habitat due to the rapid growth of the city, and now struggle to navigate the concrete jungle. The last important detail is the width of our sitting space. We made it wide enough for people to lie down or stretch and long enough for multiple people to be able to sit. This empowers the users to not only sit but also exercise, read, rest, play, and have more ownership and possibilities than any other outdoor bench would ever offer.

In terms of the construction of the materials, we reused some old jute bags (where coffee beans are transported) and reused wood from Barli, a modular housing company. Reused wood was also used for the insect hotel, made by DeMaackers. Additionally, the way the benches were assembled means, if there comes a time when they need to be disassembled, they can be successfully taken apart and used for something else.

Lastly, we partnered up with Ergon to place the benches at the Torenallee, in Strijp-s. With our first project in place, we have been able to test that our goals can be achieved. Immediately, the benches were a success with both humans and non-humans, and the Municipality was very satisfied with what they received.

As a team, we are working and new projects with renewed energy, knowing our ideas can indeed become reality and we can make real impact.