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Hive

Modular seating and planting system

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Configure this product

Hive

A hexagonal module. Split it, flip it, and stack it alongside others. Leave it open, add depth, and it becomes a planter. The same geometry produces every combination you can conceive of.

Hive is a modular system where seating and planting share the same form. Modules at three heights create volume and variety, with low timber surfaces for sitting, and taller open forms for grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers. Shape the layout around your site, and reshape it whenever you need to.

Three planter height options (420mm, 570mm, 900mm)
Two seat height options (420mm, 570mm)
A full module covers a 1155 × 1000mm footprint
A half module covers a 1145 × 500mm footprint
15 standard colours and unlimited custom RAL options
Start with one of 7 preset layouts or configure your own
Available in FSC Iroko and Endura™ Thermally Modified Ash
Made from UK-sourced recycled steel

Feeling curious, or just playful? Try the Hive configurator.

Configure Hive Discover 7 Preset Layouts

How hive came to be

Materials and finishes

Colours

Downloads

2026 Furnitubes Product Launch Hive Configurator Layouts 02

Configure, reconfigure.

Everything in Hive starts with one hexagonal form that splits into halves, inverts, and combines with others to produce clusters, rows, and organic shapes. Add timber tops for seating and use open and tall for planting. The two share the same system language, so the seat and planter are consistent in every configuration.

The hexagonal geometry gives you a framework to design within. Have fun with the interplay of heights and functions to shape how people use the space.

2026 Furnitubes Product Launch Hive Configurator Layouts 01

Split, combine.

A full module covers a 1155 × 1000mm footprint and seats up to four. Split it in half, and it seats two, or becomes a narrow planter for tighter spaces. Three height tiers produce everything from standard seating to planters that support small trees.

Full modules at the centre, halves along the edges, or a mix of heights for graduated volume. The geometry holds it all together.

2026 Furnitubes Product Launch Hive Configurator Layouts 03

Root, rest.

Planting and seating occupy the same system. The taller modules hold enough volume for tree root balls, with built-in drainage and provision for irrigation.

You can sit with wildflowers at your shoulder and a small tree rising from the module beside you. For specifiers working towards Biodiversity Net Gain targets, planting and seating share a single specification and procurement path.

Group, ungroup.

How modules are arranged determines how people use the space. Group them around a central planting form and create a gathering point. Separate them at different angles and create quieter spots to read or make a call.

This follows the principles of proxemics: seating that faces inward invites conversation, while seating that faces outward invites observation. Hive gives you both from the same set of components.

2026 Furnitubes Product Launch Hive Configurator Layouts 07

Compact, extend.

A Hive layout can be as focused as three modules in a hospital courtyard or as expansive as a full civic installation. The system scales because the geometry holds at any size. Install what the current budget allows and add as further funding arrives. The additions match what’s already there because they draw from the same system.

2026 Furnitubes Product Launch Hive Configurator Layouts 06

Specify, respecify.

As briefs change, footfall shifts, and budgets make it your way in stages, Hive allows you to respecify as you go and as you grow.

Every element draws from the same hexagonal system, so a specification written today holds as the project develops. New modules integrate with what’s already installed, and existing modules can be reconfigured. The visual language stays coherent, and the original investment carries forward.

Reconfigure, replant, or redeploy, knowing that the spec holds.

How Hive came to be

Furnitubes’ modular seating has been opening outwards for years. RailRoad lines people up along curves and straight runs, with planters at around a tenth of a typical layout. AKRI flips that ratio, setting seating into walls of planting. UNIUN opens seating outwards into organic angles. And as the design team watched people respond to clusters of FERN planters at different heights, the question shifted again: what could volume and scale bring to a single system?

Hive is what comes next. Seating and planting in equal measure, modules at three heights, and a hexagonal form that comes as close to an organic circle as a modular shape allows.

Before any form was chosen, the team researched proxemics, which is the study of how physical arrangement shapes whether people sit alone or together, and whether they stay or move on. Twenty-two concept sketches followed, each scored against ergonomics, aesthetics, and manufacturing feasibility. The hexagonal geometry won because it tessellates in organic, non-linear patterns while maintaining structural rigour.

The naming note in the design document simply states: “Ties to nature, a place of connection, busy people gather.” Hive.