STRAW BENCHES is a series of three bespoke public seating artworks created for Holla Road Business Park in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire.

The commission celebrates the town’s historic association with the straw-plaiting and hat-making industries, translating the colours, patterns and material language of traditional straw work into contemporary stone seating.

English Pearl

The surface designs of the three benches are derived from a traditional straw plait known as English Pearl.

Each bench contains a different section of the pattern. When considered together, the three individual designs combine to reveal the structure of the complete plait.

This allows the benches to function as separate sculptural objects while also forming parts of a larger visual composition.

Colour and form

The colours used within the inlaid designs reference traditionally dyed straw, introducing areas of contrasting colour into the dark Irish Blue limestone.

HI-MACS and granite inlays are set into the stone to create the detailed surface patterns.

The overall forms of the benches also draw on the physical history of the industry. Their shapes reference bundles of straw, stacked hats and hat boxes, allowing both the surface decoration and the sculptural mass of the seating to connect with Houghton Regis’s straw-working heritage.

Research

The project was developed through detailed research into traditional straw plaiting and hat making.

As part of this process, Tom collaborated with Veronica Main MBE, an experienced specialist in traditional straw plaiting, whose knowledge helped inform the historical and technical understanding behind the designs.

This research enabled the artwork to move beyond a general reference to straw and instead draw directly on identifiable patterns, colours and processes associated with the craft.

Public realm

The three benches are positioned within the landscape of the new Holla Road Business Park.

The site occupies a prominent gateway into the wider development, which will provide new homes and landscaped areas around Houghton Regis.

By introducing references to a locally significant historic industry into the contemporary development, the artworks create a connection between the changing landscape and the working history of the town.

Project archive

An engraved QR code is set directly into one of the benches, linking visitors to the dedicated project website and providing access to further information about the artwork, its research and the history of straw plaiting in Houghton Regis.

www.strawbench.tompearman.co.uk