This ADP Bench (Adults Don't Play) is by Copenhagen-based architecture/design firm Spacon.

Designed for public spaces, it provides user-adjustable seating for people of various heights.

Alternatively, the seats can also be used as table-height surfaces.

The bench is in production by Danish furniture manufacturer +Halle, which holds annual "briefings:" Brainstorming sessions for designers and architects, built around a different theme each time, with the intent of exploring public behavior in common spaces. This year's briefing, from which the ADP emerged, was "Playing."

"We had the chance to study playing from a social scientific standpoint, immerse ourselves in the mental triggers that surround the theme and share those in critical discussions with our peers. Having the feedback from the other skilled designers (Philippe Malouin and Raw-Edges) was a designer-to-designer dialogue we had longed for," Svend Jacob Pedersen, Founding Partner, Spacon, reflects.

Subtle play

The starting point for the ADP bench is interaction and, ultimately, personal ownership of a piece of furniture in the public realm. But interestingly, the research began elsewhere. In the urge or compulsion to find symmetry or align objects that are chaotic or misaligned, we hear Pedersen:

"We struggled with the theme at first. Asking ourselves, how do you contribute with something valuable in this category? To answer this question, we examined the engaging characteristics of symmetry," says Pedersen, and continues, "We looked at toys, particularly a box of Lego, and the attraction to organise the chaos and take personal ownership of the order created. That's the fundament. A businessman in a public space playing with a bench seat is built on that same theory. Proving that interaction with the world empowers."

Align the groove

Across the ADP Bench is a graphic element that speaks volumes without ever shouting. A quiet, but distinct graphic, speaking to the instinctual behaviour of wanting to adjust the seats to form a straight line.

"When looking at popular culture, internet memes, or viral connotations of symmetry compulsions, we found a picture of a sewer cover with a street line painted across it; the lock just turned a little to create a misalignment. This image communicates directly to the human temptation to want to turn the cover to make it right. And that image was something we ended up translating to a multifunctional bench, in a very direct way," Pedersen explains.

Hybrid use

The wooden ADP Bench can be seen as an interactive mental trigger and a hybrid set of seats and tables. Mimicking a classic piano stool with a swivel, the ADP Bench can be adjusted to serve as a set of low, standard, or high seats mixed with table height options. Included are, of course, all the measures in between, with endless combinations.

"Every function has a purpose in the ADP bench; at first you might want to sit down alone with a laptop and a coffee, then you might need people sitting next to you, which means you wire all the seats back down and shapeshift the bench," says Pedersen.

Graphic language

The ADP Bench is a conversation starter, especially with the transformative characteristics of the bench. You may even need to negotiate with the person next to you on how you want to sit.

"The playful tension of the ADP bench brilliantly captures the behaviour around taking ownership of public space. That the ADP bench successfully speaks to the public using a distinct language is a testament to Spacon & X's ability to establish a contract with the user of the furniture they create. At +Halle, this captures the fundament of being shaped by behaviour," +Halle reflects.

"In today's public realm, communication is vital, but it requires that the furniture that has something to say," Pedersen concludes.