Street Lab expanding use of sustainable materials in our designs

Sep 27, 2023

Street Lab is working to introduce new materials into our fabrication pipeline that are better for the environment. This month, working closely with our partner Jaywalk Studio and with support from NYC Small Business Services, we’re rolling out a new version of our One Big Bench that relies exclusively on sustainably sourced wood and 100% recycled plastic.

Most Street Lab designs are already made completely of wood—a hallmark of our approach—but there are a few situations where plastic allows us to create solutions that are significantly more durable or more accessible. For example, the curved back of the shell chairs in One Big Bench are weather-proof and are shaped specifically to accommodate seniors at our pop-ups. And we now have an option for making these out of 100% recycled plastic.

Street Lab creates these designs for the streets of NYC, and we also fabricate and ship the same solutions to other cities. Learn more here!

logo that reads Jaywalk Studio
Logo that reads Street Lab
a photograph of shell chairs made out of recycled plastic in a fabrication studio
A cropped photograph of colorful recycled plastic shells for a chair.
A photograph of people sitting and talking on a red and wooden bench in the street
A photograph of a toy made out of blue and green recycled plastic

To reduce plastic waste in the shop, we’ve also designed building toys that make use of scrap from the fabrication process. Watch for those toys in our BUILD pop-ups this fall.

a photograph of people sitting on a wooden and plastic bench under a bridge