Ardingly College - New Chapel Furniture

The existing seating at Ardingly College consisted of a mixture of narrow single chapel chairs combined with continuous pew seating and frontals dispersed around the outer perimeter of the chapel. The college needed to create a more uniform seating layout which could also be reconfigured or cleared out completely as and when required.

Treske proposed 82 stackable benches and 40 chairs to fit this brief and worked closely with Ardingly College to design a bespoke seating unit which not only physically fitted into the space, but also blended seamlessly with the existing pews. The final bench design was tailored exactly to fit within the existing seating footprint and was used in conjunction with matching chairs to create a versatile seating layout to be used by many future generations of Ardingly students. The benches and chairs incorporate solid wood seats and backs, raked to just the right angle to sit the user comfortably for long periods. Each bench and chair has been supplied with integrated hymn book storage at the back of the seat in the form of a strong wooden book trough.

The final detail to make these chairs and benches unique to the college is the inscription of the Ardingly Pelican emblem on the back rest of each piece. This unique feature combined with the special stain and finish applied by Treske has enabled the new seating to blend seamlessly with the older pews surrounding the nave.