Westeifel Werke: Street furniture creating social value
One of the ways the built environment and public spaces can be developed in a way that provides additional social value is to specify products from manufacturers whose businesses are underpinned by a strategy to benefit the wider world.
That is exactly what Bailey Street Furniture Group (BSFG) can offer through its partnership with German company Westeifel Werke. The street furniture manufacturer is unique in that it offers a wide range of products suitable for creating sustainable communities, whilst at the same time providing employment for individuals who are often excluded from mainstream employment.
The non-profit company employs 750 people over three locations, but what is remarkable is its focus on employing individuals with disabilities in line with Germany’s Social Law IX § 136. More than 530 people within its team live with a variety of mental and physical disabilities, but they are supported through educational programmes to promote personal development and ensure they can fulfil employment.
Therapeutic, nursing and other functions are also provided by Westeifel to ensure each employee is fully supported in line with their individual strengths, weaknesses, skills, and interests. The result is a business model that increases inclusivity for people living with disabilities to develop a highly engaged, productive and skilled workforce that is key to the company’s long-term success.
Social and environmental sustainability coupled with design excellence
Based in Weinsheim in the Rhineland-Palatinate area near Frankfurt, Westeifel’s facility focuses on urban and outdoor furniture production. The business is structured around six areas including wood and metal processing, surface treatment, special constructions and assembly, all of which operate within strict quality control procedures to ensure its finished street furniture products are created to the highest standards.
In addition to being a socially responsible business, Westeifel is also dedicated to environmental sustainability. It was a pioneer of FSC certification and has utilised FSC-certified hardwood in its products for over 15 years – it was, in fact, the first company in its sector to gain certification in August 1998.
Design excellence goes hand-in-hand with manufacturing quality in every Westeifel product. It partners with highly respected designers Studio Wehberg. Its product range has won multiple design awards and includes seating, tables, and litter bins, all characterised by a cohesive aesthetic with sleek, minimalist design that elevates outdoor spaces.
Helping clients create high-quality outdoor spaces
Since partnering with Westeifel in 2015, BSFG has developed extensive knowledge and strong confidence in the product range. This expertise allows the team to support UK architects, landscape designers, developers, and site owners in achieving sustainability, social value, aesthetics, and functionality in their projects.
An excellent example of how Westeifel street furniture products have been deployed to create a sustainable community is at Woodford Garden Village in Cheshire. Here, we provided a number of durable, stylish concrete and timber street furniture elements manufactured by Westeifel as part of a major residential development which is transforming a former aerospace site.
It has been designed with a contemporary vision which echoes the principles of the original garden city movement, including extensive public open spaces, lush landscaping and essential social infrastructure.
BSFG helped the developer Harrow Estates bring their vision to fruition by providing a suite of products including two Westeifel products – Gravis Seating and the Urbanis Quadrant Litter Bin. This ensured seating and waste management solutions could be successfully integrated into a design which supports a clean and welcoming environment, encouraging outdoor engagement and fostering a sense of community.
Enhancing contemporary urban projects
Westeifel products are equally well-suited for transforming urban sites, as demonstrated by two notable BSFG projects.
In Nottingham, BSFG supplied Campus Benches and Campus Tables as part of a comprehensive outdoor furniture package at the Ten Traffic Street student accommodation development. This 522-bed scheme, located in a prominent city-centre site, offers luxury living across two buildings with courtyards and a roof terrace overlooking the city.
The project’s design brief focused on shaping four distinct external spaces, each reflecting the building's fascia and window frame colours. The coordinated outdoor furniture, including Westeifel tables and benches, provided social seating and external dining areas for residents, alongside additional seating in the ground floor courtyards.
Superb aesthetics combined with high durability was also a key driver for another urban project featuring Westeifel products at the University of Manchester. The scheme at the Henry Royce Institute delivered by BSFG involved the provision of a highly versatile and robust Linares seating and table solution for an exciting new building which sought to engage people in its outdoor spaces.
The new campus development features a green space at its centre, and it was here were Linares seating and table units were installed. Importantly, they feature interspersed seating which opens up the space to be much more inclusive and wheelchair accessible. Through their robust steel frame structure, high-quality FSC-certified timbers, and simple clean lines, they were an ideal choice for these contemporary external spaces.
Supporting ESG goals in corporate developments
Another valuable dimension to Westeifel products is their potential to increase the social value achieved in private developments, including office developments, industrial sites and business parks. This is illustrated by a BSFG project from 2019 in which Westeifel seating and tables were integrated into a project to enhance external landscaping of a 185m development for Jaguar Land Rover, known as the Gaydon Triangle project in Warwickshire.
Here, the goal was to create a 109m bespoke walkway canopy, and a selection of coordinated street furniture for the new landscaped areas of the site. The design required synergy across all the materials on-site including the coordination of colours, and this design flexibility was accommodated extremely well by Westeifel Linares seating and tables.
For the client, the sustainability of the scheme was enhanced through the choice of Westeifel products, particularly given the additional social value they bring, which could help businesses seeking to elevate their ESG (environmental and social governance) targets in their property developments.
Find out more about the Westeifel Werke range of street furniture products