Heat Adaptive Bench

Heat Adaptive Bench

A City of Calgary Living Lab in progress

Come and try the Heat Adaptive Bench at North Glenmore Park, a new and innovative design, developed by the Laboratory for Integrative Design (LID) at the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL). The bench will be located next to the Café du Parc, where you can enjoy a hot drink and a warm seat. Don't miss this chance to experience a proof-of-concept design that could change the way we enjoy public spaces in winter.

  • When is this Living Lab in action?

    You can visit the bench at North Glenmore Park from March to the end of August 2024.

About the bench

This bench is not only warm, but also eco-friendly. It is made using recycled materials and has smart sensors that change the seat’s temperature according to usage, turning on only when in use. When no one is using it, the bench switches off to save energy. And when the park closes at night, it shuts down completely. This way, you can have a warm and relaxing experience without wasting any resources.

Head Adaptive Bench
Figure 1: The bench will be next to the café under the tree

How is this a Living Lab?

Through The City’s Living Labs program, we are helping the Laboratory for Integrative Design (LID) at the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape(SAPL) pilot and test the usability and energy efficiency of their bench in a real-world setting by them with a space within The City-owned North Glenmore Park. 

Sensors and data collection

The Heat Adaptive Bench uses passive infrared sensors to detect when people are near the bench. The purpose of this sensor is to tell the bench when to turn on and off. No identifiable information is collected or stored. Data collected by the bench is used to turn the bench on and off and to assess bench use and energy efficiency.

About the bench design and development

LID SAPL: The Laboratory for Integrative Design (LID) is an interdisciplinary research group that brings together researchers from multiple disciplines. The researchers at LID operate in areas of overlap that exist between design, its allied disciplines of engineering and production, and other fields, such as computer science, material science, mathematics and biology.

Principal Investigator: Dr Alicia Nahmad Vazquez

Research team: Joshua Johnson, Julian Zwack, Youness Yousseffi

Research Funding: Barkman Concrete

  • Have questions?

    Let's develop Calgary as a Living Lab together to increase opportunities for everyone. For more information, please email LivingLabs@calgary.ca.

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