Jack London Square benches, Oakland

Jack London Square is the only publicly accessible mixed-use waterfront in Oakland, California. Set on the estuary between Oakland and Alameda, the site has been a landmark since the mid-nineteenth century and still carries the mark of its port history; it now concentrates retail, dining and recreation.

The waterfront park, designed by landscape architects EinwillerKuehl, is furnished with dozens of outdoor pieces produced by the Norwegian firm Vestre. The Bloc sunbenches and chairs, along with the Stoop benches, are distributed across the scheme.

These pieces pair powder-coated galvanised steel frames with Kebony Clear slats. Vestre, a third-generation family company headquartered in Oslo, manufactures in Norway and Sweden and specifies materials intended for long outdoor service.