Unscheduled redesign

Unbeknownst to me, our cat walks under this bench on the way to one of his favorite spots – a sheltered area he likes when it rains and he just has to be outside. My first design neglected to provide MCC-minimum cat clearance. The braces blocked his path.

And so I went back to the drawing board. I had to take out the bottom horizontal and still create triangles to brace the legs. I made diagonal braces that meet in the middle, at a block. This detail reminds me, for some reason, of steel bridge connections.

I am happy with the new design, and I was able to reuse all the wood from the first bench. Most importantly, our King Cat has his path back.

Which design do you like best, the original one in the previous post or this revised one? Add a comment and vote for your favorite.