That is a fair question, and I want to answer it directly. Our outdoor benches are not designed to deter people experiencing homelessness from sleeping. They are designed to be inclusive.
When we set out to create our current line of benches, we started with a simple idea: public seating should serve everyone. A bench is one of the few pieces of city furniture that asks nothing from you. You do not need a ticket, a membership, or a reason. You might be an older person catching your breath, a parent feeding a child, a worker on a lunch break, or someone who has no other place to rest. That last person matters too.
Hostile architecture is a real temptation in public design. Armrests placed specifically to divide a bench into narrow seats, sloped surfaces, bumps, or metal bars can quietly say: you may sit for a while, but do not stay too long. We have chosen not to go down that path. Our benches do not include central dividing rails meant to stop someone from lying down, and we do not use tilted seats, bumps, or other features that make resting uncomfortable.
Now, some of our benches do have armrests. I want to be honest about that because people sometimes see an armrest and assume it is there to block sleeping. In our case, armrests are not anti-homeless devices. They help older adults and people with limited mobility push themselves up from a seated position. They give a clear boundary for personal space on crowded benches. They also help people who use wheelchairs transfer onto a stable edge. The intention is access, not exclusion.
That said, I understand why the question comes up. In many cities, people have seen benches that are clearly designed to make sleeping impossible. The design language is harsh. It communicates distrust. When public space is designed defensively, it makes everyone feel less welcome, not only homeless people. A bench with a row of metal dividers tells every person that lingering is discouraged. A wide, flat bench with a backrest and a gentle armrest at the end says something else: sit down, rest, stay as long as you need to feel okay.
Inclusive design also means thinking about the full range of bodies and circumstances. We consider seat height for people with short stature or joint pain. We leave open space at one end for a wheelchair or stroller. We choose materials that do not become painfully hot in summer or dangerously icy in winter. We round the edges to reduce injury. These choices make the bench safer and more comfortable for everyone, including someone who may have nowhere else to go.
I will not pretend that a bench alone can address homelessness. It cannot. Housing, healthcare, mental health support, and social services are the real answers. But a bench should not become a punishment. Public furniture should not be the sharp edge of a policy that pushes people out of sight. If a person experiencing homelessness sleeps on our bench, the correct response is not to redesign the bench so they cannot. The correct response is to ask why they have nowhere else to sleep and to support better solutions.
So, are our outdoor benches designed to deter homeless sleeping? No. Are they inclusive? Yes, by intention and by detail. We design them for the full public, and we believe that includes everyone who needs to sit, rest, or simply exist in shared space for a while.