The new vision for Hoag Hospital, Irvine, CA is for a world class health care facility that prioritises specialised care, and incorporates a walkable, green, wellness village for a holistic patient experience. New gardens, open spaces and clustered low scale buildings make up a more pedestrian-friendly campus with a focus on connections to nature.
Project Managed by our US partners Spruce and Gander, the furniture brief was to complement the project’s overarching themes of biophilic design and creating a calming, healing environment. The client wanted to curve the Linear seat, using Wood Without Worry in a range of different curves of large radius.
Danielle Cleveland, Landscape Architect with LPA Design Studio commented on the furniture selection. “As a design team, the aesthetic of every piece of furniture in a project is extremely important. Street Furniture Australia’s Wood Without Worry products offer a beautiful aesthetic for wood-look furniture without the maintenance concerns of using natural wood products.”
Linea Curved Seats, in both concave and convex arrangement provided a number of new challenges for our engineers: to create custom curves that were so subtle, they looked almost straight, and curving a sloped backrest – effectively a very large cone shape with the largest radius being over 23,300mm. Each batten had a unique curve and length, however differences between battens were barely discernible and therefore required careful attention in assembly.
Replacing parts on site also became a challenge given the unique curvature of each batten. Our engineers provided detailed drawings to instruct the custodian how to replace battens onsite, should they need to. The new design also required a hybrid mount to fit the plinth which was a combination of wall mount and plinth mount – another engineering feat.
While on the factory floor, it was hard to understand the need for such subtle curves, but once the pieces were installed, their design made perfect sense – the soft curves aligning against the organic shapes within the landscape.
Straight Linea Seats also feature in the Project, matching the curved seating in Spotted Gum aluminium woodgrain with Dark Bronze stainless steel frames. The high touch material palette used in the buildings such as travertine stone and warm wood-toned panels complement the surrounding landscape. Materials emphasise comfort and connection to nature to support the wellness village concept.
Acknowledging the healing power of nature, the project enhances patient, provider, and family experiences by integrating furniture in outdoor spaces for dining, gathering, therapeutic movement, and quiet reflection, providing users with spaces to decompress and recharge.
A happy outcome of this project is that Linea Curved Seats are now available for all our clients. We offer a standard curve radius with the ability to tailor as the project requires.
Behind the scenes – making the nearly straight Linea Curved Seats in our Sydney factory.
