HVM street furniture

HVM street furniture protects public spaces with benches, planters, cycle stands and seating that carry impact tested cores. It stops vehicles without making a street look fortified. This page is for landscape architects, specifiers and estates teams designing welcoming but protected places.

• PAS 68 and IWA 14-1Impact test standards for the cores
• Benches, planters, standsFamiliar forms with HVM cores
• Designed with landscapesFits the public realm palette
• Rated as installedFoundations included in the test

What is HVM street furniture

HVM street furniture is everyday public realm furniture engineered around an impact tested core. A bench, planter or cycle stand looks like normal street furniture, but its core has been tested to PAS 68 or IWA 14-1 against a defined vehicle at a defined speed. It forms part of a perimeter and HVM scheme wherever the setting must stay welcoming: stations, shopping streets, campuses, squares and waterfronts.

The approach suits sites where rows of security bollards would look hostile or clutter the footway. Furniture does double duty: it serves the public realm and it holds the vehicle line. The vehicle impact ratings guide explains the test behind the cores.

Picking the rating for hvm street furniture

Choose furniture forms from the landscape design, then confirm each form carries a tested core rated for the threat vehicle and speed. The planting and cladding are cosmetic; the rating sits in the core and its foundation.

How HVM street furniture works

Each unit hides a structural core that has passed a vehicle impact test, set into a foundation that forms part of the rating. The visible form, whether timber slats, stone cladding or planted soil, plays no part in stopping the vehicle. That separation is what lets the furniture look ordinary while performing as a barrier.

Layout matters as much as the unit. Furniture must form an unbroken line across every vehicle approach, with gaps only where a rated gate or removable element controls access. Coordinate the line with the landscape architect early, before paving levels and planting plans are fixed.

Protection without the fortress look. HVM street furniture suits stations, shopping streets, campuses and squares where the public realm must stay welcoming while vehicles are kept out.

Combining street furniture with other ratings

Where the furniture line meets a building, harden the facade behind it: blast rated curtain walling for glazed frontages and security doors rated to LPS 1175 at entrances. Upper floor glazing can use security windows where the threat assessment calls for it. Gaps in the furniture line for service access are closed with removable bollards or rated gates.

Where HVM street furniture is used

Public spaces are the natural home of HVM furniture: squares, promenades and event spaces where crowds gather. High-value retail streets protect shoppers without harming the retail environment. Transport hubs use it on forecourts and interchange plazas, and education campuses protect pedestrianised quads and entrances.

Cost and lead time factors for hvm street furniture

Standard furniture forms cost less and arrive sooner than bespoke designs drawn for one scheme. Quantities, foundation work and ground conditions set the civil scope. Coordination with the landscape architect, paving contractor and planting plan takes time but avoids rework. Finishes matched to an existing palette, and any listed or conservation area constraints, add to the programme. No prices are given here because every scheme differs.

How to specify HVM street furniture

1. Define the threat. Name the vehicle mass and speed for each approach.
2. Map pedestrian flows. Place furniture where people naturally gather and move.
3. Choose the forms. Benches, planters, stands or walls to suit the landscape.
4. Confirm the cores. Each form must carry a tested core with its foundation.
5. Coordinate the scheme. Fix levels, paving and planting around the vehicle line.
6. Ask for test evidence. Request third-party reports naming the standard and rating.

HVM street furniture FAQs