Tunbridge Wells Regeneration, Kent

Client:
Tunbridge Wells Council

Project details:
Furnitubes has a 20 year history providing street furniture for Royal Tunbridge Wells. In 2014 the council began a new town centre regeneration process with the intention of providing a cleaner, clutter free ‘shared space’. As well as new paving on the central Fiveways piazza and granite cobblestones on the roadway, the area required a coordinated, streamlined collection of seating and litter bins, with the bins also designed to prevent rainwater ingress that would stain the paving.

The borough architects at Royal Tunbridge Wells turned to Furnitubes and the Zenith range of products for their purposely robust, modern, but friendly appearance. They also wanted to put their own unique twist on the design with a move away from the standard steelwork in a single material and colour. Deep red is the primary corporate colour for the town, but it was felt that a whole product in this very bold colour would be overpowering.

The solution was to incorporate the red colour on to specifically selected areas of the products. This was achieved through independent plates on seat and bench ends and on the apertures of the bin. These bespoke parts are removable to allow for any future colour changes. This accent colour visually worked very well in contrast with the dark grey coated mild steel, and also with polished stainless steel. The seat slats were supplied in a wood plastic composite (WPC) material, which solved all of their concerns and issues with fading and maintenance.

Following positive feedback on the pilot scheme on the Fiveways intersection, these bespoke variations of the Zenith range of products will be rolled out to other development areas throughout the town centre in the coming years.

Products:
Zenith® Seat
Zenith® Bench
Zenith® Litter Bin