Stylish town centre seating unveiled

Stylish prototype furniture designed to take the leg work out of shopping in Castleford's new £1.1m town square, has been unveiled.

The furniture designed by Hudson Architects with Leeds based manufacturers City Squared Ltd is a key part of the town centre redevelopment scheme, which is currently underway.

The whole scheme has been funded by Wakefield Council, with Yorkshire Forward and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

The development of Castleford town square is part of The Castleford Project, the World's first televised regeneration project. The Project is led by Wakefield Council with Channel 4, regeneration agencies and the community. This is the eighth of 11 schemes to go on site and represents the second phase of improvements to the town centre. Work began in 2005 with the relocation of the outdoor market from behind Carlton Lanes shopping centre, improving visibility of the market and invigorating market trade.

In collaboration with the artist Pierre Vivant, Hudson Architects have designed a public square at the heart of the town, which will make making the area more pleasant for all those who visit and trade. The framework for the square is a circle, which extends from the commercial centre in concentric waves into the wider environs of Castleford. The circle is defined by granite paving, the curved threshold of which intersects the orthogonal grid of the existing street plan. The granite paving is bisected by a lattice of white granite lines, which reflect the profiles of the surrounding buildings. Pierre Vivant is working on the design and development of a sculpture, which will sit at the centre of the granite paving as main focal point of the square.

City Squared Ltd and Hudson Architects have designed and produced two types of lightweight durable benches and swivel seating for the square. Individual seats are arranged along a central granite strip. The benches slot into the granite framework and can be repositioned and locked into place at the clients'leisure.

Chair of Castleford Town Centre Partnership and Wakefield Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson welcomed the new seating saying: "It is exciting to see the new square take shape and the arrival of our stylish new town centre seating marks are important milestone on the way to seeing the whole area completely transformed."