A City Bench Heated by Compost

The London-based non-profit design studio Public Works has created a public bench heated by compost.

Instead of burning garbage or fossil fuels, organic waste is used to provide energy for a heating system that warms a city bench in Oslo. The installation relies on the natural reaction of composting, which can generate heat of up to 60-70 degrees celsius. This heat is transferred through a coil positioned at the center of the bench. Establishing this project has allowed the studio to scale up in the form of a floor heating system for a studio in London. In the words of the designers, “if you can heat a bench, you can heat a house”.

The bench was created for the occasion of the Oslo Architecture Triennale. Degrowth, the event’s theme, called for the exploration of ideas about the transition to a more circular economy as current production and consumption patterns are dramatically increasing waste outputs worldwide.

Related Insights

The Kitchen Square

Cooking Up Community: Transforming a Town Square into an Open Air Kitchen

Once a regular town square in Stockholm, a space has been reimagined to bring people together in a unique way. Architect-artist Elin Strand Ruin, working alongside local women, transformed it into the Kitchen Square — a vibrant open-air kitchen fostering a strong sense of community and connection.

Ghost Rivers

Subterranean Streams: Ghost Rivers Revive Baltimore’s Hidden Past

Artist Bruce Willen is bringing back an old submerged river in Baltimore through a 2.4-kilometre urban intervention.

Elephant paths on Michigan State University's campus

Elephant Paths: Paving the Way for a Human-Centered Public Space at Michigan State University

Public space designers on the new campus of Michigan State University intentionally allowed spontaneous elephant paths to emerge in order to create a pedestrian infrastructure that's much more logical and human-centered.