Foster + Partners chooses Escofet to develop its first Susterra street furniture collections, the new range of solutions with sustainable attributes.

Tiers’ and ‘Gather’ are the first urban equipment families made of innovative concrete and designed by Foster + Partners Industrial Design, in collaboration with Escofet.

Escofet has announced the launch of two collections of street furniture in collaboration with Foster + Partners Industrial Design, an industrial design studio within Foster + Partners, the global architecture firm founded by Sir Norman Foster. These two collections of street furniture, the first to be designed by Foster + Partners and available in the catalogue, represent a milestone in the manufacture of street furniture in UHPC concrete.

The ‘Gather’ and ‘Tiers’ collections are the result of collaboration between Foster + Partners Industrial Design and the Foster + Partners landscape and urban design teams, always in collaboration with Escofet’s design department. These new lines of street furniture are made from a special type of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), making them durable and elegant. Both ‘Gather’ and ‘Tiers’ are sets of urban elements composed of seats, tables and stools designed with UHPC- Slimconcrete®, which is characterised by its light weight, durability, sustainability and 100% recyclable materials. In terms of design, the furniture that makes up both collections was conceived to integrate harmoniously into urban environments, facilitate coexistence and allow outdoor enjoyment. They stand out for being modular and versatile, with the purpose of making outdoor pedestrian areas more active through a unique design. Tiers’ and ‘Gather’ will be added to Escofet’s catalogue from 2024.

For Daniel Milà, CEO of Escofet, “this collaboration with Foster + Partners marks a milestone in Escofet’s trajectory, highlight ing the infinite creative possibilities offered by concrete and reflecting our desire to create people-centred solutions. This collection redefines the public spaces of our cities, offering creative and functional options that meet diverse needs“. He added that “at Escofet we wanted to activate urban pedestrian outdoor areas through a unique design that encourages interaction and versatility“.

Mike Holland, Head of Industrial Design at Foster + Partners, said: “We are delighted to launch our first collections with Escofet. Tiers and Gather offer a range of creative seating options for architects and designers, and encourage the use of outdoor space with their understated elegance and refined profiles.

The collections

Although Foster + Partners has created other outdoor public seating elements, ‘Gather’ and ‘Tiers’ are its first street furniture families designed specifically for UHPC-Slimconcrete®. This technology offers numerous advantages such as light weight, durability, sustainability and recyclability, among others. The lightweight nature of products made with UHPC-Slimconcrete® makes them easy to transport and reduces energy consumption in their manufacture. Their composition is also made of 100% recyclable materials, which optimises their life cycle.

Gather’ stands out for its elegant, slender profile, which branches out from the central element to form a seat and backrest. From this profile grows a family of concave, convex and linear seating modules, capable of generating countless multi-directional sinuous shapes and green islands. The family also has two boundary modules closed at the sides for greater privacy and shelter.

On the other hand, ‘Tiers’ consists of a stool, a bench, a table/seat and a high table. With different seating and standing heights, its linear modularity is made possible by its elegant and minimal elements. Each of them is composed of two slender vertical supports and a slender horizontal surface, except for the stool, which shares the same elegance, but in a solid piece.

UHPC concrete enables the design of extremely durable and lightweight elements with a minimum structural cross-section, due to its high compressive, flexural, impact and wear resistance. The extremely low water absorption properties of this material improve its performance against fragmentation due to freezing cycles in harsh climates. With an expected service life of more than 30 years, the products reflect Escofet and Foster + Partners’ commitment to innovation and sustainability.

In addition to this project, Escofet’s R&D department is currently developing new concrete formulations, such as a new type of cement to replace traditional Portland cement; an activated cement, formulated from municipal solid waste incineration slag. The company has also developed a new type of low-emission concrete for Barcelona City Council’s PANOT SEGLE XXI project, a reformulation of 21st century concrete for the Panot Flor, which is currently being installed on 1,500m2 of Almogavers street in Barcelona.