Above image of David © Camilla Santini
David Worthington reveals new sculptural benches at 20 Gresham Street
In the heart of the City of London, where glass, steel and financial urgency typically define the atmosphere, an unexpected quiet has emerged. At 20 Gresham Street, a series of vast travertine forms now sit with a kind of grounded permanence, altering not just the space they occupy, but the pace at which it is experienced.
Created by sculptor David Worthington in collaboration with John Robertson Architects (JRA) and Bill Amberg Studio, these monumental ‘boulder benches’ resist easy categorisation. They are not simply furniture, nor are they sculpture in the traditional, untouchable sense. Instead, they exist in a deliberate in-between, functional objects that invite physical interaction while carrying the weight and presence of carved stone shaped over geological time.
Commissioned as part of the building’s extensive redevelopment, Worthington created four sculptural benches, each carved from Tuscan travertine and measuring up to five metres in length, with individual weights reaching 2.5 tonnes. Developed over a two-year period, the project brought the artist to Pietrasanta, near Carrara, where he worked in close collaboration with Marble Projects – the specialist stone production studio founded by artist Kevin Francis Gray – sourcing travertine from the S.I.T.I. Travertino Toscano quarry in Rapolano Terme, southern Tuscany.
Each bench holds within it a sense of origin. The material carries the imprint of water, sediment and time; its porous surface and soft tonal variations speak of erosion, compression and natural formation. Worthington does not impose form upon the stone so much as reveal what is already latent within it.
This sensitivity to material and form can be traced back to Worthington’s early encounter with abstraction. At the age of ten, discovering a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth in a school book proved formative, igniting a lifelong engagement with the language of sculpture.
There is a clarity to these works that feels deeply considered yet instinctive. Their rounded, organic silhouettes echo the pebble-like cavities of the building’s existing travertine wall, creating a quiet visual rhythm across the space. In this way, the benches do not sit within the architecture as additions, but as continuations.
As Worthington reflects: “The benches at 20 Gresham Street form an integral part of the overall concept for the entrance hall. My work is inspired by the natural world and organic forms, alongside influences from Modernist sculptors such as Isamu Noguchi. I regard sculpture and design as equal but distinct disciplines, each contributing in their own way to the built environment.”
JRA’s transformation of the entrance hall plays a crucial role in this dialogue. Conceived less as a corporate reception and more as a gallery-like environment, the space invites pause rather than passage. Light pours in through full-height glazing, meeting the solidity of stone and the vertical presence of living trees.
David Magyar, Director at JRA, describes this intention clearly: “Our design for the new entrance hall aspires to being more like a gallery space than a reception area. Tenants and visitors are encouraged to dwell, enjoy and interact with high quality artwork in a beautifully curated setting.”
Worthington’s practice sits in sustained conversation with the Modernist tradition, drawing from figures such as Brancusi, Arp, Moore, Hepworth and Noguchi. Yet his work does not simply inherit this lineage, it actively repositions it. Educated initially in Philosophy and Theology at Oxford before undertaking formal art training in London, Barcelona and New York, his trajectory bridges intellectual enquiry and material exploration.
His sculptures are defined not only by reductive form, but by the presence of interior voids, spaces carved as much as surfaces shaped. This relationship between presence and absence, solidity and openness, is subtly echoed in the benches themselves, where mass is balanced by fluid, organic contour.
The addition of finely crafted Tuscan leather cushions by Bill Amberg Studio introduces another layer to the experience. The softness of leather against the density of stone creates a quiet tension, one that enhances the sensory dimension of the work without diminishing its sculptural integrity.
What is perhaps most compelling about this project is its refusal to prioritise one discipline over another. Sculpture, architecture and design are held in careful balance, each informing the other without hierarchy.
Magyar expands on this integration: “We wanted to create a unique arrival experience, combining a considered architectural adaptation with dynamic artwork additions. The sculptural benches were embedded in our initial concepts, derived from the material and sculptural qualities of the existing travertine wall.”
There is also a temporal layering at play. The stone speaks of deep time, of natural processes unfolding over millennia, while the architectural context situates the work firmly within the contemporary city. Between these two conditions, the benches become points of mediation, anchoring the present moment within something far older and more enduring.
Worthington’s wider career reflects this same ability to operate across contexts. With major public commissions realised across the UK, the United States, Japan and China, his work continues to evolve through both material experimentation and conceptual expansion. Recent works incorporating enamel and colour challenge the traditional associations of marble and classical purity, positioning his sculptures between art, architecture and design.
This project signals a further evolution. The introduction of sculptural furniture as a new body of work expands his engagement with how sculpture can exist in the world, not as a separate entity, but as part of everyday experience.
At 20 Gresham Street, the result is a space that feels recalibrated. Movement slows. Attention sharpens. The boundary between art and environment dissolves.
In a city defined by constant motion, Worthington’s benches offer something increasingly rare – an invitation to stop.
There are plans for an exhibition at the International Stone Fair Marmo+Mac in Verona in September 2026: https://www.marmomac.com/en/marmomac-en/
Visit davidworthington.co.uk
