University and School Furniture
Over the last few years universities and schools of all types have taken a greater interest in the aesthetics of their campuses and have begun to place an emphasis on the condition of their physical grounds. Studies of more recent years have also shown that the impressions and attitudes of prospective students and their parents are shaped by the aesthetic beauty, appearance, and livability of the campus grounds. America’s most beautiful campuses provide an ideal setting for students, faculty, and guests to take a leisurely stroll, relax in a garden setting for visiting or studying, to have lunch, or just enjoy some quiet time. In a survey published in 1986 by the Carnegie Foundation, 60 percent of perspective college students indicated, "visual environment was the most important factor in choosing a college” and plays an important part in the retention of students (Lenington, 1996). Attracting new enrollees is a critical issue among institutions today, and their ability to set themselves apart from their competition is becoming more critical than ever; making the aesthetic appeal of a campus a particularly important endeavor.
Campus Building Services Departments and campus design specialists consider many elements in establishing and maintaining functional yet aesthetically pleasing campus grounds and outdoor extended living areas. This task requires combining elements of art and design to create a functional aesthetically pleasing extension of indoor living to the outdoors. The artistic elements of color, line, form, texture and scale are interdependent and must work together to produce a finished work of art. The art itself must also adjust to principles of design that include unity, balance, transition, focalization, proportion, rhythm, repetition and simplicity. Art and design must come together in the end, yielding a picturesque setting that is desirable, livable, and aesthetically beautiful and unique.
Oxford Garden’s beautiful outdoor wood furniture designs and products are a natural choice in achieving this harmonious blend of form and function in the perfectly balanced outdoor living areas that university and college campuses are striving to create. Our outdoor wood furniture complements natural settings, is easily livable, ages beautifully, and is built to withstand use and the elements.
The Versatility of our wood furniture - Oxford Garden builds graceful, sophisticated, and traditional yet elegant outdoor wood furnishings in a variety of styles to choose from when matching the existing architecture of the campus. All our furniture and accessories are built from a strong high-density tropical hardwood called shorea that is often compared to teak wood. Shorea, like teak weathers wonderfully and withstands the elements while offering longevity unmatched by most woods. As shorea wood ages it takes on a character of maturation while continuing to blend with its surroundings. Our wood furniture is natural in appearance and does not diminish or overpower the aesthetic beauty of the outdoor or garden setting.
The Design of our outdoor wood furniture – We build a wide selection of timeless designs and multipurpose garden furniture pieces and accessories that possess character and charm perfect for the outdoor living areas on your campus. Our selection of styles offers choices in line, form, and scale that can be matched to the design and function of any outdoor setting you wish to create. We offer outdoor settings that work together to bring unity to your spaces, to create balance, define separation of space, provide intimate or public area, accommodate two or twenty people, or provide that perfect individual piece that can bring the element of focalization. All our wood furniture possesses simple elegant lines that offer a feeling of calm and relaxation. All accessories are built to match and complement our furniture pieces. Our outdoor wooden accessories include planter boxes and refuse receptacles that blend and are an attractive rather than an unsightly element of the outdoor setting.
Many university and college campuses have one or more memorials established on or throughout the campus grounds. Oxford Garden builds a one of a kind ‘Signature Series’ bench in which a memorial can be laser engraved into the back of the bench itself. The Signature Series bench is the perfect piece to set aside in a quiet garden area as a focal piece of wood furniture for the outdoors or to place as a focal piece to your entrance with your university’s name and insignia. This is just one example of the versatility and functionality of our outdoor wood furniture.
The Construction of our wood furniture - The quality in our craftsmanship yields durability of service and comfort for years to come. Our outdoor wood furniture designs have simple clean lines, are sturdy and soundly constructed utilizing mortise and tenon joinery to withstand use after use. Additionally, the density and strength of shorea wood makes it a likely choice for heavy construction, framing of boats, parquet flooring, heavy-duty flooring, decking, fencing, and more.
The Maintenance of our furniture – Our shorea wood furniture, if left untreated will slowly and gracefully weather to a subtle gray like that of weathered teak. If the original honey color of the wood is preferred, a routine oil treatment of the wood is required. Climate conditions will determine how rapidly or slowly shorea will age. Treated or untreated, shorea will age without splitting and remain structurally sound. Each piece of shorea wood furniture offers attractive endurance without the fuss and you have one less maintenance issue to worry about.
The setting, design, construction and maintenance are all powerful elements that drive decision-making when planning the grounds and architecture. Oxford Garden believes that we can help solve some of the decision-making dilemmas of choosing the right outdoor wood furniture that will perfectly complement the beauty of the campus grounds. Whether you are updating or renovating established campus grounds, you will find that Oxford Garden’s outdoor garden furniture lines are compatible with the essential design elements that address your needs of harmony, balance and unity between nature and man. In today’s budget conscious world of bottom lines, Oxford Garden offers shorea wood furniture as a more affordable wood alternative that utilizes high-quality construction and superior craftsmanship.
Oxford Garden is the natural choice for your natural outdoor wood furniture needs.
Gaines, T. A. (1991). The campus as a work of art. New York: Praeger.
Lenington, R. L. (1996). Managing higher education as a business. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx.
Oxford Ltd., Incorporated · 1729 Research Dr. Unit A · Louisville, Kentucky 40299 Telephone: 502.719.2222 Toll Free: 877.866.3331 Fax: 502.719.8888
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