Prismasteel Furniture System
This article was originally written and submitted as part of a Canada 150 Project, the Innovation Storybook, to crowdsource stories of Canadian innovation with partners across Canada. The content has since been migrated to Ingenium’s Channel, a digital hub featuring curated content related to science, technology and innovation.
Canadian Museum of History, 2005.3.1; gift of the Gander Airport Authority
Throughout the 1960s, airport terminals across the country featured Canadian-made furniture and artwork. Most of these buildings included variations of a seating design created by Robin Bush. After studies at the Vancouver School of Art and a stint in the Canadian Navy during World War II, Bush (and his then business partner, Earle Morrison) began producing furniture of his own design. In 1957, Canadian Office and School Furniture in Preston, Ontario, began producing Bush’s Prismasteel line. The line featured an innovative approach to furniture making: 33 interchangeable components could be assembled in different ways to create 120 different furniture pieces. Prismasteel seating was used in Gander, NF, Ottawa, ON, and Edmonton, AB, among other airports.
Canadian Museum of History
The Canadian Museum of History welcomes over 1.2 million visitors each year to its celebrated complex in the heart of the National Capital Region, making it the country’s most-visited museum. With roots stretching back to 1856, it is one of Canada’s oldest public institutions and a respected centre of museological excellence, sharing its expertise in history, archaeology, ethnology and cultural studies both within Canada and abroad.
