Taking a Break: Summer School was the culmination of four months of After School Clubs that explored transforming local waste from King’s Cross into a series of public seating designs and prototypes. These After School Clubs had focussed on different material groupings and processing techniques, titled:
– Modular Encounters
– Sitting on Glass
– Extruding Plastics
– With Cans We Can

During the two week Summer School, designers Attua Aparicio and Oscar Lessing guided students through the stages of designing and fabricating the final bench designs. Some of the stages of this design and making process are detailed below.

Generating Forms: Students began by analysing and photographing existing public seating designs, understanding different fixing methods and ergonomics. From here, they explored modelling 2D and 3D forms for the bench leg design using card modelling, foam hot wire cutting, fabric stuffing and moulding.

3D Scanning and CNC: Students were consequently guided how to 3D scan their models at The Barlett School of Architecture, and created a digital model from this. These models were used to CNC a mould for the chosen leg design.

Foundry Visit: The group went on a visit to Maybrey Precision Castings LTD, where they witnessed the process of pouring and casting metal into the CNC moulds, seeing their designs transformed into solid metal pieces. These pieces were further processed by the students by precise filing.

Exploring Materials: Students explored materials for the bench tops and went on a visit to Fallen and Felled to identify specific reclaimed timbers that would suit the palette. They also processed, shaped and sanded recycled plastic sheets.

Assembling Components: Finally, students assembled the different components of the benches. They celebrated their work through photoshoots and designing the exhibition for LDF.

The final 1:1 bench prototypes were exhibited and celebrated during London Design Festival 2025.

Taking a Break summer school was supported by Supported by:
King’s Cross, Smile Plastics, The Bartlett School of Architecture, B-Made, Maylim, Maybrey Precision Castings, URM, Unimetals Recycling