Fylde Promenade

Project Name: Fylde Promenade 
Client: Fylde Borough Council
Architect: Ryder Landscape Consultants
Contractor: Mollington Contracts
Value: £120k
Completion Date: February 2020
Products Used: Diamante Seat

The regeneration of Fylde Promenade and the coastal defence systems that run from Church Scar to Fairhaven in Lytham St Annes were funded by the Environment Agency. The £17.5m contract was designed to protect thousands of homes from flooding and to refresh the public realm space along the 11km stretch of coast line area. This included a requirement for a significant number of robust & contemporary seating units that Artform Urban Furniture were commissioned to provide.

Fylde Borough Council had very specific and exacting requirements for a considerable amount of external seating to run along the full 11km (6.8 miles) of coastline. Artform Urban worked closely with the local council to offer a suite of standard and bespoke seats, to meet the needs of the very demanding site location. The Diamante seating system was specified as the main seating for the promenade due to its flexibility in design and robust and durable materiality, to cope with the harsh coastal environment.

Artform Urban were approached at the initial design stage of the project, initially with the Landscape Architect, Ryder Landscape Consultants. After reviewing the project brief, Artform Urban then worked directly with the client, meeting on numerous occasions to ensure the team's high level of experience was utilised due to the challenging location of the site. A coordinated effort was needed with the clients preferred contractor, Mollington Contracts, to ensure all products were delivered on time and in an efficient and effective manner to allow ease of installation.

As a coastal location the seating had to be able to withstand the drastic changes in weather conditions over the seasons, with the Diamante Seats manufactured using a mixture of high performance concrete, powder coated and galvanised steel and exotic hardwood for robustness and durability. The support legs were re-designed to incorporate larger support fixings, ensuring that the seating was significantly secure when subjected to adverse and extreme weather conditions. Being located on the UK’s Western coast the atmosphere contains sea salt which has a detrimental effect to standard coatings. Powder coating with Artform’s Triple X coating offered optimum protection against the saline conditions to provide a longer lifespan for the seating. A selection of bespoke hardwood timber toppers were selected to help suit the client’s brief, allowing the residents of Lytham to enjoy the seating and magnificent views.

Parts of the site were classed as environmental conservation areas, meaning any new products installed along the coast could not encroach into these  precious zones. To achieve this, Artform designed and supplied a number of bespoke units that were smaller in terms of width, thus resulting in the integrity of the conservation areas remaining protected, whilst provided valuable seating areas.

The outcome of the project means that the thousands of people that visit Fylde Promenade every year, can sit and enjoy the coastal views in a safe and comfortable way. The contemporary design of our products adds to the overall beauty of the site and complements the other elements offering unity to the area.

The main resulting benefit our seating has contributed to is tourism in the local area, as the overall scheme was to regenerate the perishing sea defence systems along the promenade. Our seating allows people to enjoy these areas all along the 11km coastline when visiting, allowing them to take in the amazing views or sit and enjoy an ice cream.