Benchmark has been chosen to contribute to delivering a world class creative showcase that will play host to some of the most globally influential business leaders during the Olympics and Paralympics Games.
The British Business Embassy, developed by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), is the centrepiece of the Government’s international business legacy programme. It will see over 3,000 UK and international business leaders from across the globe come together for an ambitious series of global, sector and country summits.
Taking place at the world-renowned Lancaster House, the Embassy will stage a host of world class speakers including Christine Lagarde, Eric Schmidt, Sir Jonathan Ive, Howard Stringer and Daniel Ek. The 19th century Lancaster House will be transformed to showcase modern art and design from both new and established designers, photographers, furniture makers, and sculptors, as well as displaying the very best in sound art and visual installations.
A total of 18 rooms at the British Business Embassy have been curated to highlight the talents of British or British trained designers and manufacturers. Benchmark’s Stiletto Console by Sean Sutcliffe and Camberwell Desk by Terence Conran have been selected to feature along with designs by Lee Broom, Jason Bruges Studio, Jasper Morrison, Barber Osgerby and Heatherwick Studio amongst others.
Minister for Trade and Investment, Lord Green said: “Lancaster House is a unique venue that will showcase the very best of British capability to international companies – and demonstrate that the UK should be their first stop when looking to boost business.
It will take another twenty years to accumulate this level of stock so this really is a one-off opportunity! Whether you are a DIY enthusiast, a restaurant or cafe owner or just a lover of beautiful, handmade furniture it’s well worth a visit to find something fabulous at a knock down price.
Jo Yeates Memorial Bench
Benchmark are honoured to have been commissioned to make a bespoke bench for the Jo Yeates Memorial Garden which is being created by the Landscape Institute South East Branch at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum, Hampshire in celebration of the life of Jo, the young Bristol landscape architect who was so tragically killed in December 2010.
The bench will sit in a butterfly garden that has been inspired by a design project Jo carried out as a student and in a style close to Jo’s heart.
The bench, designed by Brodie McAllister and Phil Deacon, is made from European Oak. Brodie and Phil wanted to develop a long sculptural design that was a feature in its own right. The bench has a soft curving profile in keeping with a look and feel that Jo was known for. The welcoming curved shape allows people to look at each other whilst seated, with the backrest falling away at one end to encourage people to lean back and enjoy the sky as well as the view of the gardens.
The team at Benchmark have worked with Brodie and Phil to provide the technical construction and resolution for the design, the complex twisting design setting quite a manufacturing challenge. Laser cut steel ribs give form to the bench which is now in the process of being clad with steam bent oak timbers.
Early in May the bench will be lifted into place ready for the planting of the garden.
The garden is likely to be formally open to the public at some point in early summer. Prior to the opening, landscape architects from around the south east and south west will be showing their support at a celebratory planting day on 13 May.
Further information about the Jo Yeates garden can be found here…
donation page: https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/joyeatesmemorialgardenfund
facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/166271213456667/?ref=ts
landscape institute info: http://www.landscapeinstitute.org/about/JoYeatesMemorial.php
In addition to making bespoke commissions, Benchmark make a range of contemporary street and park furniture designed by Wales and Wales. The full collection of benches can be viewed here.
Last week we were proud to feature in Wallpaper* ‘Handmade’ exhibition at Salone del Mobile in Milan. The exhibition was showcasing specially commissioned works and one-off collaborations between the world’s best designers and craftsmen.
Benchmark was invited to collaborate with The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and aberrant architecture, bringing together the very best of materials, innovative design and craftsmanship in the making of two pub tables named ‘Devil Amongst The Tailors’ after a traditional table-top skittles pub game.
Devil Amongst the Tailors
Sustainability is, and always has been, at the heart of everything we do and we’re continually making every effort to develop our business in a responsible and sustainable way so perhaps the most innovative and exciting aspect of this project is that we’ve helped AHEC to document all elements of the manufacturing process so that they can put this data together with life cycle data recently collected from the American hardwood industry to produce a full ‘cradle-to-grave’ life cycle impact report for the tables. This will be a first for both the timber industry and the furniture industry and is the future for providing transparent information to enable informed decisions to be made when it comes to the question of sustainable design.
Easter Opening Hours
The Benchmark Showroom will be open on Saturday 7th April as usual from 10am to 4pm. We will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Wishing you a very Happy Easter from everyone at Benchmark.
Supporting the National Forest
As part of our consistent efforts to minimise our adverse effect on the environment and in line with our ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard Benchmark are supporting The National Forest in their campaign to create 200 square miles of New Forest, one of the UK’s boldest and most ambitious environmental projects.
The New Forest is being created across 200 square miles of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The Forest makes a growing contribution to addressing climate change, absorbing carbon and helping to adapt to the long-term challenge.
We’re proud to be part of this initiative which is spearheaded by The National Forest Company, established by Government in 1995 and guaranteed and sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
We’ve purchased a selection of native broad leaf young trees, known as whips, such as Oak, Ash and Silver Birch. which were planted at the beginning of this month.
Training Excellence
Benchmark are delighted to have been awarded the West Berkshire Training Consortium ‘Certificate of Excellence’ for 2011. The certificate recognises employers who are most committed to staff training and development and the Certificate of Excellence is the highest accolade that an employer can receive in the Investment in Training Awards.
In 2010 we won the Certificate of Merit so this demonstrates our own going investment in our staff. Rachel Eaves at WBTC said “It is a pleasure to present this award to such an excellent employer. Benchmark Furniture have now reached our highest level in the Investment in Training Awards and they are role models for other employers. During difficult economic times it is satisfying to see manufacturing leading the way by investing in the future. Well done!”
New Look Showroom
The decorators are busy in the Benchmark showroom at the moment. We’re freshening everything up and re-organising the space in readiness for the new furniture that we will be launching in the forthcoming months – sign up here to be kept informed of all our new pieces and events including our warehouse sale.
We are open for business as usual but do give us a call if there is a specific piece that you want to view so that we can make sure it is on display for you.
Meet Meko
As sole licensed manufacturer for Wales & Wales, we’ve been working closely with Rod and Alison Wales to develop and introduce new street furniture designs to add to our Street and Park Furniture range.
MEKO is the striking new bench we’ve just launched. It has been specifically developed to address shopping centre and high applications with a modular format that can be configured in straight, curved and ‘S’ shaped layouts with optional armrests.
Our most recent Street and Park Furniture projects include Bexhill Seafront, Hereford Cathedral, St Helier’s Millenium Park and London Barbican.
