The new eco-elegance: thermal ash and delicate steel
U.K.U. is a furniture group that elegantly combines two materials for seating and table surfaces: thermal ash and metal. The series has been developed for protected outdoor spaces and follows this charming guiding principle: beautiful, warm, natural wood as a free-floating surface.
Technically formulated: The ash strips protrude over the metal substructure on all sides, which tapers diagonally outwards and virtually emerges from the Field of vision disappears. The metal furniture feet are also at an angle. They appear delicate, but ensure the best stability.
U.K.U. is available as a bench and as a table in 4 different lengths. Starting from a length of 190 cm (with space for 3 seats), the larger models each grow by a 58 cm wide seat. From the 306 cm long, 5-seater models, a straight middle foot supports the seat. The longest, 6-seater version is a remarkable 364 cm long. The following applies: the longer a U.K.U., the more elegant the continuous wooden strips with their straight-line joints appear.
The U.K.U. comfort pillows
Backrests and 3-part seat cushions are responsible for U.K.U seating comfort. It's easy to use: the benches have struts below the seat with a dual function: firstly, the feet can be attached there, and secondly, they are there to insert the backrests.
Cleverly, the backrests work on both long sides of a bench, in the space between the outer wooden strips. You fold the three-part seat/back cushion over the backrest - and fix it with Velcro. It covers the backrest made of sheet steel on both sides - and can easily withstand any kind of wind. You can position the individual seats on the bench individually. Always very comfortable: the back parts give slightly when you lean on it, giving you the feeling of a cantilever chair. U.K.U. combines almost symbiotically the comfort of a good chair with the distinctive look of a simple bench.
The cushions are available in 4 basic colors: medium gray, anthracite, beige and olive green - as well as in seasonally changing trend colors. The cover material is made of spun-dyed branded acrylic, UV-resistant and water- and dirt-repellent. To wash at 30°, you can easily remove the padding from the cushion cover using a zip. To ensure good ventilation of the wood, you should store these cushions separately from the furniture when it is wet. The compact shape of the foldable pads makes transport and storage very easy.
A real inspiration: the cultural technique Yakisugi
For technical and ecological reasons we use for the U.K.U. Seats are deliberately made from a very special hardwood: thermally treated, local ash. Because it is extremely resistant even to continuous outdoor use. In addition, the procurement routes for ash wood are short. Just local wood.
But what does thermal ash actually mean?
In the thermal process, selected raw strips are heated to such an extent that the wood ingredients, which are susceptible to weathering, literally char. A special European form of Yakisugi, the traditional Japanese cultural technique of wood preservation. After a few months of natural weathering, the dark brown wooden strips turn into an elegant silver gray. And small cracks also appear as a result of, among other things, the natural swelling of the wood outdoors. You can see (and literally “grasp” it) on the wooden surfaces: U.K.U ages very nicely, gains in character and remains very resistant.
The durable, galvanized metal components are also sustainable. The surface is protected with an anthracite-colored powder coating as standard. And of course only screws and fittings are made of stainless steel.
PS:
U.K.U. stands for “substructure below”!
