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Humpty Dumpty had the right idea when he sat on a wall.

Segmental retaining wall (SRW) units are a popular solution for beautiful and durable outdoor seating.

Residential seating

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“Retaining walls are both durable, beautiful and versatile tools of the trade,” said manager Scott Arnold, of Villa Landscapes in St. Paul, Minnesota. “Our landscape designers use retaining wall systems to create hardscapes such as fire features, raised patios, planters and other outdoor living amenities in addition to retaining walls, tiered seat walls and free-standing walls.”

A couch kit is one popular use of the VERSA-LOK retaining wall units. The curved couch with a tiered back provides seating for up to four people, and stepped ends make an attractive accent.

A versatile tool

Seat walls can be worked into many landscaping designs. Freestanding seat walls can frame a square or circular patio to create an outdoor room.

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“Some of our most popular installations feature fireplaces on a patio or a fire ring surrounded by a seat wall,” said Villa landscape designer, Kelly O’Donahue. A freestanding seat wall can be built within the raised patio to define the outdoor room.

Commercial seating

Event spaces such as stadiums, courtyards, and amphitheaters have benefitted from economical outdoor seating solutions using SRWs. The International Institute of St. Louis wanted to create an event space in an area that had a crumbling cinderblock wall separating the courtyard from the parking lot. Landscape architect Brad Furfaro worked with the site architect to come up with a tiered wall seating solution.

The new amphitheater-style space seats about 80 people for outdoor activities. “One challenge was a grade change from the base of the wall to the top and also a horizontal grade change from one end to the other,” Furfaro said. “I had not used VERSA-LOK in this way before, but I knew that it’s a block that I can do anything with.”

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This article is courtesy of Brandpoint.