Medite MDF from Willamette Europe is set to challenge the bench-type public seating market, traditionally the domain of metal, plastics and solid timber.
Two designers – John Coles, senior lecturer in the Department of 3D Design, Kingston University and Mike Dye, who runs his own design consultancy, MDA Design, and is a part-time lecturer at Kingston – have developed a new form of bench seating made from laminated Medite MDF.
Called Massimo, the seating attracted much interest from architects and specifers who had a sneak preview when it was exhibited on the Willamette stand at the Batimat building exhibition in Paris.
The laminations from 25mm thick Medite MDF are produced to precise tolerances on a CNC router. Any shape can be produced and repeated with the minimum of wastage.
Mike Dye said: ‘Massimo has enormous commercial potential. We’ve completed all the drawings and some informal strength testing. There’s no doubt about the strength of the material and, in ergonomic terms, the shape of the seating can be varied to meet any specified requirements.’
