Doma - The Anti-Skater Bank

Concrete furniture is great, never looks the same and needs special care. Find out more about us and the material we love so much and hopefully you will learn to love!

DOMA concrete bench: a real highlight for everyone - except skaters

When designing parks, public squares and other urban spaces, it is always important to keep a variety of interests in mind. Even objects that appear to fulfil a clear purpose, such as benches, can sometimes be used in a completely different way than the city planners intended.

Public space is per se "there for everyone" - this is where the most diverse users and their expectations and needs come together. And sometimes they collide. For example, when park benches and other street furniture - actually intended for relaxed sitting on - are misused by skaters to "grind" over the edges of the benches, which in the skater scene means grinding along an obstacle - in this case the park bench - with one or both axles of the skateboard. Regardless of whether it is a wooden or concrete bench, this popular and illegal practice is of course not exactly good for the appearance of street furniture. Scuffs, extensive scratches, chipping and flaking of the material are unfortunately not uncommon after the mostly young skating fans have let off steam on the seating furniture. Much to the chagrin of the owners - whether they are private business people or the local council - the cost of replacing the benches is often high and also makes little sense, as the new street furniture is an invitation for the skaters to "inaugurate" it in their own way. So what to do?

One solution to the problem could be to retrofit stoppers, but these often detract from the design of the benches and sometimes also the seating comfort. Rather than using studs and unsightly metal disruptive elements to keep skaters away, it might be better to develop a bench that is ignored by skaters because it is not suitable as a "grind" in the first place.

We took up this challenge and designed the DOMA concrete bench, which not only looks exceptionally modern and chic, but also combines form and function in several ways: the wave pattern on the surface interrupts the straightness of the edges and takes away the joy of skaters skating over it. The "anti-skater bench" DOMA proves to be "unrideable", but at the same time is very comfortable as a seat thanks to the carefully bevelled recesses that allow the legs to rest comfortably and invite young and old to linger. The wave-shaped seat also provides ideal rain drainage. The silky-soft concrete surface flatters both the look and feel: DOMA is a real highlight in parks, squares and publicly accessible outdoor areas.