One of the most efficient designs for effective use of space, when it comes to public seating, is the beam seating design. You can find beamed seating in almost every public place. Waiting rooms, airports, train and bus terminals, hospitals or any place where groups or large numbers of people are forced to sit down. The design is known as a beam seat, simply because all seats are attached to a beam. The seating configuration can consist of at least two to six or 8 seats that are attached to the beam that runs under the seats. For stronger reinforcement or a stronger seating system, the configuration can contain more than one beam.
Designers have a lot of flexibility in the construction of the beam seats, as the seat is attached in a horizontal row that can be placed anywhere. Since all the seats used in the setup will be identical, they can be produced much more profitably than having to purchase individual seats. The method of attaching the seats will also be the same, and there may be cost efficiencies when assembling the seats.
If the seats are molded composite material, it may be easier and cheaper to reproduce a full length of the shape, rather than having to produce individual units. In any case, you can expect that there will be much less variation and more uniformity in the production of the seats, as they will all be made in the same process.
In addition to manufacturing cost efficiencies, the beam seating provides design flexibility with multiple decorative options. You can choose seats in almost any style, color, or fabric, as long as they can be easily attached to the rafters. You also have the option of including tables in the row. They can be placed at the end or in the center of the row. Adding table tops can be as simple as including a 4-sided shape on the horizontal surface of the bar.
For high-traffic areas, it may be best to have the seat frames made from sturdy materials, such as protective steel that is also protected with heavy-duty powder coatings. If a fabric is chosen for the seat material, it is likely to be a very durable fabric, such as polyesters, which will be resistant to wear and tear from everyday use. For public use, the use of molded seats that are made with heavy-duty plastic seems to be a popular option, because they can be easier to clean.
One of the benefits of beam seating is that it is generally easy to clean and maintain. Since all the seats are arranged in a row, there is very little need to move anything to clean surfaces, such as the floor or surrounding areas.
The uniformity of the seats in the formation adds a lot of flexibility to the design process and it is much easier to include innovations or even modernize the configuration of the seats to add new features.