by Brianna Crandall — January 4, 2013—Landscape Forms, a premier global brand of outdoor furniture, LED lighting and accessories that help create a sense of place, recently announced the acquisition of Meld USA, which will expand the company’s capability to design and manufacture high-performance concrete site furniture.
Meld USA, founded in 1998, is an industry leader in materials innovation and the design, development and manufacture of products made of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC). Over the past 14 years, the Raleigh, North Carolina company has earned a reputation among architects, landscape architects and interior designers for its production of high-end standard and custom UHPC architectural products, says Landscape Forms.
Meld USA developed and is the nation’s exclusive manufacturer of “extremeconcrete,” an architectural material manufactured from a mixture of concrete melded with materials such as glass and metal to provide color and texture, notes Landscape Forms. extremeconcrete is included in the global new materials library of Material ConneXion. Meld USA products include furniture, countertops and custom architectural elements, and its clients range from leading design and architectural practices to restaurant chains, major corporations and educational institutions.
Meld USA brings another dimension to Landscape Forms’ rapid expansion into concrete site furniture. In 2011, Landscape Forms announced the collaboration with Phoenix-based Kornegay Design to introduce artful collections of large-scale cast concrete planters. And in 2012, the company announced an agreement with Barcelona-based Escofet for exclusive North American distribution of its award-winning cast stone outdoor furniture elements.
Now Landscape Forms will leverage its expanded capability in concrete to design and manufacture new collections of UHPC site furniture. In the coming months, the company plans to add new concrete site furniture products to the Landscape Forms brand portfolio and to expand the capacity of its Studio 431 customs group to offer customers a “new and exciting” material.
Landscape Forms will operate Meld USA from its North Carolina production facility, serving the current customer base, and Meld USA founder Peter Bustin will join the Landscape Forms management team. Landscape Forms is planning additional investments in Meld USA research and development efforts and its manufacturing facility. All Landscape Forms products designed by Larry Kornegay will continue to be produced at the Kornegay Design facility.
For more information, see the Landscape Forms Web site as well as their FMLink ad.
