Ola Bench

Award-winning street bench design, exhibited internationally.

A wave to sit on

Ola bench is our iconic street bench design, awarded for its unique design in Italy and the USA. Ola is inspired by water, creating natural movement from solid materials.

Winner of an A’Design Award in Milan, Italy, and selected for the “Street Seats Design Competition” in Boston, USA. 

cities-of-design-network
A Design Award Silver Winners Neko
Bench Design Museum Boston Street Seats Challenge

In 2012, Boston Design Museum launched an international design challenge. They invited designers to create a street bench design combining sustainability, functionality and innovation. The winners would be installed on the Fort Point waterfront in Boston.

The aquatic environment at Fort Point inspired us to design ‘Ola Bench’, selected as one of the 20 finalists. In the first part of the process we created a scale model, with meticulous attention to detail using 3D printing and bending tiny strips of steel by hand.

We aimed to create natural movement resembling water from a solid material. In the full-size piece we calculated each curve individually. We laser-cut each piece and then bent them into place by hand. At the same time we ensured that this product can be produced on an industrial scale. The Ola bench featured in an 8 month open-air design exhibition in Boston, USA in 2013. Watch the video on the whole design and manufacturing process here.

In 2014, we were very proud to receive a Silver A’ Design Award in Milan, Italy. This prize is awarded to products which have achieved “an excellent level of perfection in design”. Read more: A’ Design Award Neko