Landscape Forms & Loll Designs:
A Natural Fit
“I remember the first time I
met Kirt Martin and the other Landscape Forms folks—it was a cinematic, eyes-meeting-across-the-room
type of moment,” recalls Greg Benson, Loll Designs Founder and CEO, with a laugh. “I recognized them at
the International Contemporary Furniture Fair after years of admiring Landscape Forms' work in landscape
architecture magazines. We hit it off, I was honored to find that they were fans of ours, too. The rest
is history."
Caption: Loll Designs from
left to right, Nate Heydt, Greg Benson, & Jeff Tally
Photoshoot was completed prior to
COVID-19.
Collaboration with artists, designers, and other creative professionals is key to
Landscape Forms’ diverse and influential offering, and when working with like-minded partners, the power of
cooperation becomes even more evident. A passion for design-forward products realized through
sustainability-focused solutions brings the two companies together, fueling the creative fire and serving to
inspire new ways to help people to enjoy the outdoors.
Caption: The entire Loll
Designs Team at the Duluth, MN headquarters. “It takes a team to do what we do.” Says Loll Designs CEO,
Greg Benson.
Photoshoot was completed prior to
COVID-19.
“Some of the best inspiration comes where you least expect it," says Landscape Forms
Chief Creative Officer, Kirt Martin. “When we first decided to partner with Loll, I remember walking into
their conference room to discuss some ideas, and I became fixated on the conference table itself. It was a
large-scale, one-off piece made from Loll’s signature post-consumer recycled plastic. It was just for
internal use, but I immediately knew this was ‘it’ -- Landscape Forms needed something like that in its
repertoire.” This moment of inspiration would eventually lead to Landscape Forms’ first collaboration with
Loll Designs, the immensely popular Harvest table.
Caption: Harvest, the first
collaboration between Landscape Forms and Loll Designs, was introduced in August of 2018.
Photoshoot was completed prior to COVID-19.
Of course, Harvest is much more than a repurposed conference table, and the process
of getting it into production was a true collab-oration with Loll. Landscape Forms drew on its expertise in
lighting technology and metal manufacturing to develop two of Har-vest’s trademark characteristics—the
central, mood-setting lighting feature and the robust, element-resistant metal understructure. Similarly,
Loll drew on its expertise in recycled plastics, its fun-loving design sensibilities, and its vibrant color
palette to help in-corporate a completely new visual and material identity into Landscape Forms’ offering.
Caption: The Harvest line was
extended in 2020 to include a standing height bench, with optional bag hangers.
Photoshoot was completed prior to COVID-19.
Following the success of Harvest table, Landscape Forms joined with Loll again in
2020 to expand the Harvest lineup as well as introduce two new products, Americana and Glide. Americana is
Landscape Forms' take on the Adirondack chair, reimagined for improved comfort, increased durability and
added visual intrigue. Both wider and taller than its traditional counterpart, Americana offers a wider
range of seating positions, and easier ingress and egress. “The Adirondack chair is near and dear to our
hearts at Loll since our twist on it was our debut product back in 2006,” says Greg Benson. “It’s a symbol
of comfort, relaxation, and the appreciation of the outdoors—all concepts that both we and Landscape
Forms communicate in our work. I’m so proud of the way Americana turned out, and I can’t wait to see it in
outdoor public spaces near me.”
Caption: Americana is the
reimagination of the classic Adirondack chair—a timeless icon of outdoor enjoyment.
Photoshoot was completed prior to COVID-19.
Caption: Americana’s form
factor is both wider and taller than a traditional Adirondack to enhance comfort, offer a wider range of
seating positions, and aid ingress and egress.
Glide is a backed bench that combines senses of innovation and restraint in design.
The form of the bench—the way the seat and back seamlessly join the metal base with no visible screws—is
simultaneously minimal and refined yet unlike any other bench Landscape Forms has previously created. “The
Glide bench specifically provided an interesting design challenge for us,” recalls Kirt Martin. "It’s hard
to design for both simplicity and also differentiation, but I’m so pleased with the solution that arose from
the col-laboration between both design teams. The way we connected the bench to the back gives it a unique
gesture that is simple and ele-gant while simultaneously being like nothing anyone has seen before.” Like
Harvest, both Americana and Glide utilize a combina-tion of Loll’s UV-resistant 100% post-consumer recycled
plastic (HDPE) and Landscape Forms’ Pangard II® powdercoated chip-and-fade-resistant metal to ensure a long,
happy life outdoors.
Caption: The Glide bench
embodies the perfect balance between restraint and innovation in design.
Photoshoot was completed prior to COVID-19.
“The partnership between us and Loll Designs is a natural fit,” concludes Kirt
Martin. “Our cultures and values align—we both embrace design, culture, and craft; we’re both driven by a
commitment to sustainability; and we always have fun working together to develop innovative products. Our
collaborations work so well because each company brings unique skills to the table. We com-plement Loll with
our lighting technology and metal manufacturing knowledge and processes, and they complement us with their
knowledge of recycled plastic technologies and their fresh take on design for the outdoors. I’m really
excited to see where this partnership will take us in the future, both in continuing to build out the
Harvest line and in introducing more new products like Americana and Glide.”