Straw Bale Bench
Train Depot
Davis, California
click for an alternate version of picture
This series of benches, designed by John Hammond of Indigo Architects, and with tile decoration designed by his wife, Seico, was executed by Skillful Means during the Spring of 2001.
The multicolored stucco finish is inlaid with fourteen different colors of granite tile in designs representing the four seasons. Lori Leyrer was project manager and Chris Alvey led the Skillful Means crew in applying stucco and tiles.
The benches are a part of a plaza featuring natural boulders wih grass and a new formal rose garden at one end.
Designs on the bench echo the grafitti on passing boxcars. The bench is popular with local kids, and is a fun diversion for kids and adults waiting for trains to San Francisco, Sacramento and places far, far away.
A total of over 200 lineal feet of straw-bale bench winds its way alongside the train tracks.
more (on construction)
Skillful Means, Inc.
PO Box 207
Junction City, CA 96048