‘We are delighted with the beautiful benches Christian O’Reilly made for the Gallery.’

Christian really listened to what we wanted to achieve and incorporated all aspects of our brief, including budget, timing and DDA requirements. He created two bench designs and we liked them so much we ended up commissioning both.  Christian ensured the designs tied in with our building and displays as well as complementing each other.  The benches look lovely in our gallery spaces as well as being really functional and having great longevity.  They are an investment for the future and have received a lot of positive comments from visitors and the press.

Laura Turner, Curator of Art, York Art Gallery

Project details

Client: York Museums Trust

Brief: To design and make 11 benches for the refurbished York Art Gallery. Two design proposals were submitted: one based on the benches I designed for The Graves Gallery, Sheffield and a new design inspired by the gallery building.

Key project points:

+ the seating complies with accessibility guidelines;

+ to create all the gallery seating;

+ two different designs that had to compliment each other;

+ incorporate storage for information about the art works;

+ fixed budget;

+ sustainable, managed European oak.