How can we make the dreams about smart cities come true with sustainable solutions? The Kuube smart benches designed in Hungary offer an alternative to this problem. They work with Hungarian materials, rely on renewable energy resources, while also catering for the new needs of information society. We present you the furniture of Kuube!
With Kuube’s smart benches, you can charge your phone or surf the net for free while you wait for your friend – this is how we could sum up the operation of the smart furniture popping up in more and more places very briefly, the idea of which was conceived by executive manager Máté Gallai and designer-developer Gábor Mátray five years ago. Their product is now available in several places in the country, including Budapest, Balatonalmádi and Várpalota.
The Kuube premium quality public smart benches are equipped with USB ports and wireless chargers, they work as free Wi-Fi hotspots, and need no electricity supply to all this, as the benches run on solar power. Essentially they can be installed on any location with sufficient sunlight, where the soil is stable, there is 3G coverage and the environment is safe. In addition to all this, the benches monitor the air quality of their environment, as well as UV levels, humidity and air pressure.
It’s important that the benches are 100% designed and developed in Hungary, and the majority of the parts are also made by Hungarian workers. They work with high quality materials as they would like their products to be as durable as possible. The aluminum chassis is covered in tempered safety glass, while the seating surfaces are made of ash wood.
Currently they offer three types of smart benches: the Kuube ECO, Kuube NANO, and Kuube PLUS can seat up to 3, 4 and 8 people, respectively. The latter is our favorite – Kuube PLUS allows several people to sit down facing each other (there are hardly any effective and comfortable solutions for this available on the market currently), and beyond that, the piece is also roofed, thus providing shelter from rain and the scorching sun. A hut like this can be perfect for taking a rest and get charged up during a bike tour around Lake Balaton.
The freely accessible book stations were also made by Kuube, these once again run on solar power and provide free internet access.
In addition to product development, Kuube’s team also strives for opening on the international market, with Tungsram being their distribution partner. Their first bench abroad, a Kuube PLUS was installed in Skradin, Croatia.