Buckle Up: Behind the Stacking Bench

As we spent the past year rethinking and reconfiguring our homes, we are revisiting STACKED, a hardworking bench that was conceived as a piece that could fill an entire room. When discussing the project with designer Shawn Maximo, we were inspired by campaign furniture which was versatile, portable, and surprisingly stylish for long distance travel. Maximo distilled the essence of these furnishings and introduced a versatile bench that could evolve into a console or room divider when additional units were added. We hadn't seen anything quite like it on the market, but as with most truly original ideas, it required a long development process. After nearly 2 years of dreaming, sketching and testing, we launched STACKED in November 2019.

Deceptively simple in geometry, the bench is quite complex when it comes to engineering. Good construction requires structural integrity while sleek and clean designs demand seamless joints. In order to achieve both, we used a hidden internal locking device to fastens the bench leg parts together.  You won't have to worry about this bench coming apart, even when multiple units stacked on top of each other. 

True quality is found in the details. The leather straps, used as a decorative accent and to fasten an optional bench cushion in place, were details carried over from the campaign furniture references. But belted looks also made an impression on those of us who came of age in the 90s during the era of supermodel glamour, Miami excess and Gianni Versace. Maximo embraced both the historic and pop culture associations of belted looks while working with top leather craftspeople in Portugal to create the perfect, modern belt.

STACKED was meant to be used in myriad ways, so take a step further to get the most use out of this bench - including leg raises, hip thrusts, lunges, and squats. Have as much fun with it as we did creating this piece. 

 

 

 

 

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