The Skøyen Bench — a small, smart move in a larger urban development

The Skøyen area is undergoing major development, with plans for around 5,000 new homes and 3,400 new jobs. At the same time, the area includes many different properties and stakeholders, which makes it important to look at the urban spaces as a whole and find concrete interventions that can bring more life and better connections.

From urban development to concrete interventions

This was the starting point for the Skøyen Bygulvskart (public realm map), which DARK Design Group and LARK Landskap have carried forward through initiatives including the Skøyen Design Festival and concrete projects in the public realm.

“We wanted to help make Skøyen a more inclusive central district with public gathering places. Skøyen is an area with limited public presence, so it is important for private stakeholders to come together to create a more accessible city,” says Charlotte Helleland, architect and partner at DARK Design Group.

Together with LARK, DARK has worked on how Skøyen can gain more green, inclusive, and appealing places to spend time.

“A bench might sound like a very simple intervention, but furniture, plantings, lighting, and well-designed edge zones are important tools for creating urban life. It’s about creating places where people genuinely want to be,” says Maren Sofie Austnes, landscape architect MNLA at LARK Landskap.

A Vestre piece adapted to its place

When the project group reached out to Vestre, the goal was to find a bench that could work well across different urban spaces in Skøyen while still having a clear connection to the place.

The choice fell on the Vestre JUNE, designed by Espen Voll, Tore Borgersen, and Michael Olofsson. JUNE is a universally designed bench built to work across many types of public space.

To give the bench a stronger local identity, JUNE was custom-adapted in RAL 3004 Purple Red, Skøyen’s signature color.

“The Skøyen Bench is a great example of how we can take a bench from our collection and tailor it to a place with small adjustments,” says Nicolai Gulliksen, industrial designer and project manager at Vestre AS.

He notes that the JUNE bench’s design has many strengths: it’s universally designed, fits well into the cityscape without drawing too much attention, and can be adapted to a visual identity.

“Working with DARK and LARK was valuable because they came in with a clear vision for Skøyen, not just an order. That made it easier for us to land on the right solution, and using a consistent purple-red color is a great example of how much difference a small adjustment can make to how a place feels.”

For Vestre, this is about more than adapting a product. It’s about how design, architecture, and landscape can come together to create public spaces where people feel welcome and want to spend time: Public Belonging.

“Public Belonging is about designing for inclusion and belonging, not just function. The Skøyen Bench shows how a simple piece of furniture can become a symbol that a place is for everyone,” says Gulliksen.

From idea to concrete action

Vestre joined the project in the summer of 2025. Together with the project group, the decision was made to use JUNE as the starting point and develop a custom-adapted version for Skøyen. The bench was finalized in February 2026 and was then presented to property stakeholders in the area.

Initially, 20 Skøyen Benches will be placed around Skøyen. Agate Utvikling, Storebrand Eiendom, Møller Eiendom, Malling & Co, Gjelsten Bolig, SpareBank 1 Forsikring, and Bane NOR are among the stakeholders involved.

The bench thus becomes a shared intervention across multiple properties, while more stakeholders can join over time.

“What’s great about this project is that it’s very concrete. You don’t have to wait for the big, finished urban development plan to start making Skøyen better. A bench is a small intervention, but a lot of small interventions together can add up to a big difference,” says Helleland.

Launching at the Skøyen Design Festival

The Skøyen Bench will launch at the Skøyen Design Festival on September 4–5. Alongside Magne Furuholmen’s artwork, new green initiatives, and other projects, the benches will help create more places to pause and spend time in Skøyen.

For Vestre, the Skøyen Bench is a concrete example of Public Belonging — how furniture, design, and place-based adaptation can be part of a bigger picture and contribute to more vibrant, inclusive public spaces.

The Skøyen Bench is a small intervention. But when multiple stakeholders make small moves in the same direction, it can add up to something bigger: more places to meet, more life in the public realm, and a stronger sense of belonging