Designers of Outdoor Furnishings Line Select Vycom’s Designboard for Durable, Low-maintenance Option for Commercial Property Owners
As spring arrives, commercial property owners are looking to refresh the look of their spaces to attract customers eager for all things “new” at winter’s end. They replace worn out furnishings and fixtures, freshen paint, add vibrant plantings and some, such as restaurants, move life outdoors with al fresco seating and dining. Because of the demands of their high-profile and busy spaces, however, commercial property owners need to choose furnishings that will withstand the environments without excessive maintenance. Designers and industry consultants George Gehringer and Karen Pearlstein developed a line of furnishings to meet this market need. To help them differentiate their product, they chose VYCOM’s Designboard™ HDPE for the beauty of its hammered and brushed metal finishes, resistance to graffiti, low-maintenance requirements and durability.
“Commercial property owners want to have a clean, fresh and decorated look for their spaces, but replacing furnishings or spending a lot to maintain them cuts into their bottom line,” explains Gehringer, creative director of Metaphor, LLC, in Exton, Pennsylvania. “Our pieces look very much like metal but have all the advantages of HDPE, including the ability to withstand winter and still look fresh come spring.”
Metaphor’s Outer Limits collection features modular, all-season containers, tables and benches in three, contemporary hammered textures and colors, as well as an engraved line with a more traditional look. The products are manufactured with no visible fasteners – a process it took Metaphor five years to perfect. Additionally, the pieces can be custom-sized to fit a commercial property’s scale. For example, their standard-sized planters sit outside Griffin Apartments on the high-profile corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, while a cocktail table measuring 47″Lx47″Wx16″H is used inside Redskin Stadium’s Fantasy Football Lounge in downtown Washington, D.C. Metaphor has even custom designed a fountain and a fire pit.
The Designboard is supplied by Vycom Plastics and the products are all manufactured in Pennsylvania. Metaphor also works with two national distributor based in Pennsylvania, making them what Gehringer calls “truly a domestic, Pennsylvania business.”
VYCOM’S Designboard offers the rich designer shades and textures of metals with the durability and weather resistance of solid HDPE. Available with UV resistance, Designboard has superior scratch resistance and stiffness and will not rust, corrode, rot, delaminate, or splinter.
