Economical Use Of Materials In This Wowhaus Bench
Scott Constable, of California-based art/design collective Wowhaus, built this Orca sculpture several years ago.
It's suspended over the entryway of Kitsap Middle School in Silverdale, Washington. The purpose of it was to draw attention of the local Orca's endangered status, while simultaneously honoring the region's boatbuilding heritage. The ribbed construction emulates boatbuilding techniques and incorporates locally-available wood species (White Ash, Sitka Spruce, Western Red Cedar).
Constable (along with life and Wowhaus partner Ene Osteraas-Constable) plans to host more visitors at their home in coming years, and needed to build more seating. Seeking to do it in an economical way, he looked at what was on hand. He still had wood left over from the Orca project, specifically ten 18'-long Sitka Spruce stringers.
By cutting them in half lengthwise, he now had 20 of the stringers. He then cut five units of a repeating shape out of Douglas Fir-faced marine plywood, to serve as the ends and support members. This yielded a lightweight but sturdy 9-foot-long bench:
"I wanted to exaggerate the high strength-to-weight ratio of clear, vertical-grain spruce so used as few framing members and stringers as possible without sacrificing comfort. The bench weighs under 30 pounds and seats up to 6 people."
"The piece is inspired by public seating once found in train stations, ferries, parks and post offices. I wanted light and air to travel freely through and around the piece so that it almost felt invisible, like an anti-couch. I like that the piece can be easily moved around or even used outside, the finish being several coats of spar varnish."
"I think it's an apt companion piece to ORCA."
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