This paper presents an exploratory study into the structural optimization of the Bench Galet, a concrete public bench produced by the Belgian company Urbastyle, with the aim of reducing the concrete volume and as such improving its ecological footprint. Traditionally, urban furniture consists of non-reinforced precast elements without internal voids. In order to reduce the concrete volume while maintaining the outer surface and adequate stiffness and strength, several strategies can be followed, ranging from creating a hollow structure with a simple internal void, over the use of shape and topology optimization creating an internally optimized structure with a predetermined volume restriction, to the use of two- or three-dimensional concrete infill patterns with reduced apparent density. During the exploration, two load cases involving vertical crowd loading and horizontal accidental collision are considered. Infill patterns include triangular, honeycomb and iso-grids, as well as triply period minimal surfaces such as gyroids with varying pattern sizes. Finally, the proposed designs are assessed by a static non-linear finite element analysis making use of the concrete damaged plasticity model in Abaqus, revealing the influence of optimization methods on the overall structural performance. Although the exploration has several limitations, the results clearly indicate that not all optimization methods provide a similar ultimate strength, show a directional dependence, but clearly prove that it is valuable in the search for the reduction of the ecological impact of urban concrete structures.