Project Type: Installation, Competition (Fitz/Sits London Architecture Festival 2025)
Location: London, UK
Status: Concept

Inspired by the diversity of London’s Fitzrovia neighborhood, Corky Conversations is a playful and adaptable seating installation designed to foster various forms of conversation and rest. Anchored as a singular object at its full length, the bench can also be adjusted to accommodate surrounding users. Constructed from natural cork—for its sustainability and end-of-life reuse—paired with steel sheets, Corky Conversations invites dynamic interactions. Its reflective stainless steel surface captures movement, light, and texture, transforming throughout the day. Rooted in rigorous studies of human dimensions and movement, the bench is designed for inclusivity, adapting to users of different heights and abilities.

Facilitating vibrancy in a neighborhood means creating site conditions that invite a meandering experience for chance encounters—whether in solitude or among a crowd. Corky Conversations presents a compelling design statement, fostering dialogue wherever it is placed. Adaptable in form, it can anchor itself as a compact 610mm bench on narrow sidewalks or expand up to nearly 4m, drawing in passersby from all directions. To unlock its full potential, Corky Conversations thrives in wider sidewalk settings, where pedestrian flow and urban activity are already in motion. In these spaces, it can situate itself “corkily” in varied configurations, engaging individuals, groups, and the dynamic rhythms of the city.