Marshalls Landscape Protection, part of hard landscaping manufacturer Marshalls Group, designed, manufactured, and installed inclusive outdoor seating as part of a Leeds City Council pop-up park, creating a welcome green space in the centre’s busiest shopping street.

Created using Marshalls Landscape Protection’s Distrikt® timber seating range, the new seating area was located on an artificial grass installation on Briggate - the busiest shopping street in Leeds. This pop-up park was home to a large animatronic Diplodocus, part of a temporary dinosaur trail across the city.

Responsible for making the seating requirement happen, Leeds City Council Project Manager Richard Sadler explained: “The last 18 months have been especially challenging and the city centre is in full recovery mode. This busy street experiences huge footfall daily, and the main aim for this specific seating project was to create an additional green space for people to sit, dwell and take in the extraordinary sight of this life-sized dinosaur.”

Securing the winning tender, Marshalls Landscape Protection managed the whole process from designing the seating and drawing up visual communications for the client, to its manufacture and installation.

Marshalls Specification Development Manager, Dominic Renney, talked through how the design came together: “Mirroring the curves of this giant dinosaur, six of our curved and straight Distrikt® benches were connected together to create a snaking 10m-long seated area.”

Accessibility was considered carefully too so that anyone could use the seating. Meeting DDA best practice, the design featured strategically positioned armrests so that wheelchair users could transfer easily. At the opposite end, backrests were incorporated to enable elderly users to sit down and stand up more easily.

Made in Britain, the Distrikt® range is a customisable timber seating range. Unlimited options such as seating direction, armrests, and backs meant a free-flowing seating arrangement could be configured as long as the project requirements.

Working with Leeds City Council to minimise disruption of this busy shopping area, the Marshalls team successfully fitted the seating arrangement in the evening after 7pm.

Commenting on the completed install, Leeds City Council Project Manager, Richard Sadler, concluded: “The snaking seating looks great and is already being well used. We’re always striving to achieve a cost-effective solution that meets budget requirements; one that looks the part aesthetically, delivers the right quality and is fit for purpose.

“Marshalls has worked with Leeds City Council on a long list of collaborations over the years including these more recent pop-up park schemes. The team has certainly delivered on every level for this seating design.”