The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) and the Royal Docks Team (RDT) have revealed winners of the fourth edition of the Pews and Perches design competition, which sees a series of bespoke public benches delivered throughout the Royal Docks this year.

Following the success of the previous years, the competition open call invited architecture and design students, recent graduates and emerging practitioners to deliver playful and creative bench proposals that celebrate and transform the Royal Docks as a place to sit, rest and play. Designers were asked to respond to this year’s LFA theme of ‘In Common’, ansewering the questions: how do we create and shape the space we share: our city? How do we make the most of what we have in common – and explore the things we don’t?

Now in its fourth year, Pews and Perches highlights the transformative impact of small-scale interventions in the public realm and offers visitors and residents alike unique spaces to sit and make the most of their surrounding public space. This year one of the winning proposals was created by a student team from LDE UTC, whose campus is in the Royal Docks area. LFA are proud to give new, local talent a platform to showcase their skill, with winning benches being installed for a year following the Festival.

The winning teams, designs and locations are:

Chit Chat Chair by Studio Groove

A group of people sitting on a wooden bench overlooking a body of waterDescription automatically generated with low confidence
© Luke O’Donovan

Resembling two barrels that sit together on the quayside, the Chit Chat Chair’s curved form hugs its sitters and creates a moment of refuge within the Royal Victoria Dock. The bench’s S-shape brings two users into an unusually intimate composition, with the aim of sparking spontaneous conversation and encouraging people to discover what they share in common.

Location: Floating Gardens, Royal Victoria

Together We Hold by Akmaral Khassen

© Luke O’Donovan

Together We Hold celebrates women standing together in the face of violation against them and their bodies. Four figurative women form a joyful and fluid ensemble of bench ‘legs’ that support the bench structurally, as well as its sitter. The bench’s playful form and bright colours create a collective moment of joy in Lyle Park for passers-by to engage with.

Location: Lyle Park

Round the Neighbourhood by Nicolos Makatsaria and Jericho Cabalan (student team from UTC College)

A group of tables and chairs by a body of waterDescription automatically generated with low confidence
© Luke O’Donovan

Round The Neighbourhood reuses materials from one of last year’s Pews & Perches benches to create an interactive seating arrangement with circularity at its core. One revolving central seat is surrounded by others of varying heights, sizes and colours that each represent the different lives that coexist in The Royal Docks. The bench invites its users to ‘go round the neighbourhood,’ bringing people together to share stories, exchange cultures and learn from each other.

Location: UTC College

FLOAT by Akasaki Vanhuyse

A picture containing outdoor, sky, cloud, waterDescription automatically generated
© Luke O’Donovan

FLOAT is a round, faceted bench that takes inspiration from maritime objects and the nearby curved wharf. By cutting and layering deadstock bricks, the bench draws on the material as a symbol of the local area – a nod to the industrial brick buildings that surround the bench – and subverts material conventions by creating a round, soft shape that provides an interactive seating area and meeting spot for the public.

Location: Royal Albert Wharf

Pews and Perches forms part of the the Royal Docks official programme; as an LFA Destination, there will be a number of LFA events taking place across the area, showcasing the Royal Docks’ local history, cultural infrastructure and new development. This year, the LFA2023 events also form part of ‘At the Docks’ — an exciting new summer season of arts, culture and events in the Royal Docks, which boasts a bumper line up of contemporary art installations, the UK’s first zero-waste theatre venue, cutting edge performances, international sporting events, music festivals, watersports and a whole host more.

Alongside the programme the Royal Docks is collaborating with LFA for special episodes of its Building Sounds podcast, which will include a feature on Pews and Perches, chatting to the designers about their individual benches.

Daniel Bridge, Programme Director, Royal Docks Team, said:

“We were delighted by the excellent, innovative and ambitious proposals put forward by 40 applicants. They were hard to narrow down, but we have selected 4 fantastic designs that champion diversity; both in terms of the designers and the designs themselves.

“The judges were interested in designs that challenged the conventions of both construction and the materials used. Fittingly, we ended up with benches made from three of the most abundant materials in the Docks; wood, brick, and metal. Each with its own striking visual impact.

“The range of materials align with the theme of “in common” while reminding us of the area’s history and location. For example, the wooden pew is placed on the wooden floor of the floating gardens in Royal Victoria Dock and represents the barrels that were unloaded from ships onto the dock edge.

“We would like to thank Andre Kong – a designer from last year’s competition – for mentoring the UTC students in this year’s competition.”