A Sculptural Bench as Neighbourhood Architecture

POETIC has delivered the design drawings for a sculptural bench for the outdoor areas of Innlandet Primary School in Kristiansund, Norway. The project has been developed in close dialogue with the school and its users, through meetings with Inger Endreseth, Headteacher of Innlandet Primary School, alongside Eigunn Stav Sæthre and Wiam Alaridi. In addition, POETIC conducted workshops with the pupils, allowing children’s perspectives, movements and ways of inhabiting space to actively inform the design process.

Visual:POETIC

The bench is conceived as an architectural element with a public character. It serves as a place for rest and play during the school day, while in the afternoons and evenings it functions as a shared meeting place for the local community. As such, the project is understood as a neighbourhood intervention, extending the role of the school grounds into the wider everyday landscape of Innlandet.

The form has been developed through a parametric design process, unifying bench and roof in a single, continuous gesture. The horizontal structure accommodates both informal gathering and play, while the undulating roof defines and shelters the space beneath. Perforations within the structure allow daylight to filter through, creating a shifting interplay of light and shadow that changes with time and season. The openings invite exploration and movement, while maintaining visual connections across the site.

The project is planned for construction in laminated timber, with materials selected for their low carbon footprint and long service life. Timber’s structural and tactile qualities lend the bench a robust yet sensorial character, well suited to intensive daily use. The parametric construction enables efficient prefabrication and precise material use, supporting a careful and resource-conscious production process.

The bench originates from POETIC’s 100T campaign, in which Innlandet Primary School was selected as one of the projects to proceed following jury evaluation. The ambition has been to explore how architecture at a modest scale can generate significant social value. Integrated into the landscape as an organic structure, the bench is conceived in dialogue with nature, offering a playful, welcoming and durable setting for shared use by pupils, residents and the surrounding community.