Canapé bench

The Amsterdam Canapé bench is a street bench made of 3D printed, recycled plastic waste, and the result of material research, digital design, engineering and fabrication. The design is made by The New Raw for the municipality of Amsterdam, and fits within their aim to disseminate and implement circular models by developing contextually strong and visually inspiring concepts.

Summum Engineering carried out structural analysis of two design iterations, and reported on their structural performance – specifically stresses, deformations and buckling behaviour. Different strategies to adjust the design in order to improve this performance were proposed as a result. The structural behaviour of 3D printed, recycled plastic is a new field of interest, and neither this material, nor street furniture in general, are governed by regulations or code in terms of structural performance.

Geometry supplied by the client was converted into structural meshes for analysis. The material properties of the applied material mix were unknown, so a reference material, with data provided by The New Raw based on their academic work, was used for the analysis. Design values were determined by applying Eurocode’s design assisted by testing (Eurocode 0, Appendix D) in combination with the Eurocode “Prospect for new guidance in the design of FRP”. The latter applies to thermoset resins instead of thermoplastics, but used nonetheless to determine material conversion and partial safety factors, given the lack of code guidance for thermoplastics, and assuming that the inhomogeneity and degradation of both materials are at least somewhat analogous. The loads were defined by accounting for different seating arrangements, and possible vandalism.

The final design recommendations supplied by Summum Engineering will inform The New Raw’s future work. In the case of this specific project, the municipality of Amsterdam opted for an alternative design by The New Raw in which only the seating is 3D printed, connected to traditional steel legs.

Project developer
Gemeente Amsterdam

Designer and client
Panos Sakkas, Foteini Setaki |  The New Raw

Structural analysis
Sjef Brands, Diederik Veenendaal | Summum Engineering