2.13 Site Furniture
Seating. GSA is committed to providing public amenities
such as outdoor seating. The design should consider
appropriate locations (bus stops, plazas) where seating
could be used. Movable furniture can be an important
Useful outdoor spaces require furniture just as much as
component in effective public plazas and courtyards. In
do rooms in a building. Seating, tables, bollards, bicycle
many intensively-used public spaces, it is an effective
racks, cigarette urns, trash receptacles, flagpoles, lighting
supplement to built-in seating. Where appropriate,
standards and tree grates should be considered as part of
perimeter walls and stair elements should be designed to
the initial site design.
provide comfortable height and depth for seating. Seating
Site furniture shall be compatible in design, size and color
should be designed and placed on the site to provide
with the surrounding architecture and landscape design.
choices for employees and visitors, including sun and
They should be selected and submitted in the Design
shade, fixed and movable, etc.
Development package (see Appendix A: Submission
Requirements).
Trash Containers. Locate trash containers at the entrances
of buildings, on the path people will take to leave a seating
area, and other locations to encourage their use. Provide
recycling containers to collect items in keeping with the
local recycling opportunities.
Bicycle Racks. The use of bicycle racks shall be considered
at all GSA facilities (LEED criteria suggest racks for 5% of
building occupants). Bicycle racks shall be placed in a
location that is convenient to riders, such as a parking
garage, parking lot or near a building entry. This location
should be highly visible by building occupants, security
personnel or by general traffic or in a secure (locked) area
for use only by employees. Racks shall have provisions for
locking bicycles to them. Bicycle racks shall be compatible
with the architecture and landscape design.
Materials. Materials for outdoor furniture must be very
durable and resistant to vandalism. Movable furniture can
be an important component in effective public plazas and
courtyards. In many intensively-used public spaces, it is an
effective supplement to built-in seating. Metals that
require repainting shall not be permitted. Consider the
use of recycled-content materials for seating, when
appropriate.
Jacob Javits Plaza, New York, NY
46 F A C I L I T I E S S T A N D A R D S
FOR THE
PUBLIC
BUILDINGS
SERVICE
2.13 Site Furniture
Revised March 2005 PBS-P100
Previous Page
