El banco más largo / The longest bench

Localización / Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex, Gran Bretaña (2010)
Arquitectos / Architects: Studio Weave (http://www.studioweave.com/
Enlaces / Links: dezeen, archdaily, the architectural review, bellostes

El banco más largo de Gran Bretaña se inauguró en Littlehampton, West Sussex, el 30 de julio de 2010.
Mide 324 metros, da asiento a más de 300 personas y recorre el paseo marítimo de Littlehampton, frente a su galardonada playa de Blue Flag. Diseñada por Studio Weave, la sinuosa estructura serpentea a lo largo del paseo rodeando los postes de luz, plegándose detrás de las papeleras, y descendiendo hasta el suelo para permitir el acceso entre la playa y las zonas verdes.
El banco está hecho de miles de tablillas de madera tropical grabadas con mensajes de sus patrocinadores. La madera es 100% reciclada y procede de espigones antiguos o vertederos.
Dos lazos de acero rematan al banco conectando el paseo marítimo con las zonas verdes. El banco penetra en estas estructuras girando locamente y creando espacios de asiento y juego.

The longest bench in Britain was opened to the public in Littlehampton, West Sussex on the 30th July 2010.
The bench seats over 300 people along Littlehampton’s promenade, overlooking the town’s award-winning Blue Flag beach. Designed by Studio Weave, the structure sinuously travels along the promenade, meandering around lampposts, bending behind bins, and ducking down into the ground to allow access between the beach and the Green.
The bench is made from thousands of tropical hardwood slats engraved with messages from its supporters. The timber is 100% reclaimed from sources including old seaside groynes and rescued from landfill. Accompanying the long bench are two bronze-finished steel monocoque loops that connect the promenade with the green behind it. As the bench arrives inside the twisting loops it goes a little bit haywire, bouncing of the walls and ceiling creating seats and openings. The loop contains the haywire stretch of bench and frames the views each way.

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TEXTO COMPLETO / FULL TEXT

El banco más largo de Gran Bretaña se inauguró en Littlehampton, West Sussex, el 30 de julio de 2010.
Mide 324 metros y da asiento a más de 300 personas y recorre el paseo marítimo de Littlehampton, frente a su galardonada playa de Blue Flag. Diseñada por Studio Weave, la sinuosa estructura serpentea a lo largo del paseo rodeando los postes de luz, plegándose detrás de las papeleras, y descendiendo hasta el suelo para permitir el acceso entre la playa y las zonas verdes. El banco más largo descansa suavemente sobre su hábitat y se adapta a su entorno, conectando y definiendo – como una pulsera - el paseo marítimo en su conjunto.
El banco está hecho de miles de tablillas de madera tropical grabadas con mensajes de sus patrocinadores. La madera es 100% reciclada y procede de espigones antiguos o vertederos. La hermosa variedad de los tonos de las maderas recuperadas se entremezclan con toques de colores brillantes dondequiera que el banco se pliegue o se doble.
Dos lazos de acero rematan al banco conectando el paseo marítimo con las zonas verdes. El banco penetra en estas estructuras girando locamente y creando espacios de asiento y juego.

El proyecto fue impulsado por Jane Wood y Sophie Murray, madre e hija residentes en la zona y dueñas de los East and West Beach Cafés. La zona pertenece al proyecto de renovación urbanística de Sir Terry Farell.
Durante el desarrollo del proyecto, Studio Weave trabajó con alumnos de la Connaught Junior School, quienes exploraron las características que hacen a la costa de Littlehampton única, y ofrecieron ideas tan intuitivas como la brillante paleta de colores o las estructuras de acero.
El diseño permite al banco seguir creciendo hasta, al menos, 621m y más de 800 asientos, lo que situaría a Littlehampton en los libros de récords. La primera fase fue financiada mediante una donación de 450.000 £ del Sea Change Programme gestionado por la Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), interesada en la regeneración de las ciudades costeras.
Gordon Roddick hizo también una generosa donación privada de 100.000 £ como tributo a su difunta esposa Anita. Anita y Gordon comenzaron con su negocio de Body Shop en Littlehampton y la oficina central está situada en la ciudad.

The longest bench in Britain was opened to the public in Littlehampton, West Sussex on the 30th July 2010.
The bench seats over 300 people along Littlehampton’s promenade, overlooking the town’s award-winning Blue Flag beach. Designed by Studio Weave, the structure sinuously travels along the promenade, meandering around lampposts, bending behind bins, and ducking down into the ground to allow access between the beach and the Green. Like a seaside boardwalk the Longest Bench rests gently on its habitat and adapts to its surroundings while like a charm bracelet it connects and defines the promenade as a whole, underlining it as a collection of special places that can be added to throughout its lifetime.
The bench is made from thousands of tropical hardwood slats engraved with messages from its supporters. The timber is 100% reclaimed from sources including old seaside groynes and rescued from landfill. The beautiful variety of reclaimed timbers are interspersed with splashes of bright colour wherever the bench wiggles, bends or dips.
Accompanying the long bench are two bronze-finished steel monocoque loops that connect the promenade with the green behind it. As the bench arrives inside the twisting loops it goes a little bit haywire, bouncing of the walls and ceiling creating seats and openings. The loop contains the haywire stretch of bench and frames the views each way.

The project was initiated by Littlehampton residents and entrepreneurs Jane Wood and Sophie Murray, the mother and daughter pair responsible for the East and West Beach Cafés. An integral part of Sir Terry Farrell’s Waterfront Strategy for Littlehampton, the Longest Bench joins Jane Wood’s ongoing contributions to the town’s regeneration.
To inspire and develop the project, Studio Weave worked with pupils from Connaught Junior School who explored what makes Littlehampton’s seaside unique and offered insightful ideas including the bright colour pallet and dynamic shelters.
The design allows the landmark bench to keep growing up to at least 621m, seating over 800 and putting Littlehampton in the record books. The first phase was funded through a £450,000 grant from the Sea Change Programme run by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), which aims to help the regeneration of seaside towns.
A generous private donation of £100,000 was also made by Gordon Roddick as a tribute to his late wife Anita. Anita and Gordon started the Body Shop in Littlehampton and the head office is located in the town.
Mr Roddick said “Anita loved Littlehampton and was very keen to do whatever she could to help raise the profile of the town. She was fully supportive of the idea for the bench and would be delighted to see it.”