We are lucky enough to be working with BIID President Matt Freeman, who is consulting with APM this year. He recently visited Milan for Design week, and enjoyed seeing upcoming trends as well as new Sustainability-focused design. He’s put together his favourite Sustainable designs, to help inspire you in your environmentally-friendly shopping journey…
The OTO (One To One) Chair is a really exciting find. It’s affordable (£99), appears well considered (it had a 9 year design process), and is produced from a single mould – making it efficient to produce. It’s made from post industrial recycled plastic (plastic scrap generated as waste from industrial processes), and arrives flat-packed (in a recycled and recyclable pulp pack) ready to assemble (does not require screws or metal inserts, easy process). The icing on the cake? For each chair sold, you actively contribute to the recovery of 0.5 kg of waste from our seas. I sat in the display chair, which was very comfortable for my short stay!
The Ambra Toba wall light is part of a series, combining curved aluminium (recyclable) and Mexican volcanic rock (consisting of minerals and glass) – contrasting each other but coming together, linking industrial elements and hand shaped rock. The display of the fittings presented chunks of rock, unfinished next to the finished piece. Having spent almost a week in Milan, I’d seen a lot of marble and this fitting got me contemplating the use of volcanic rock – if it is a sustainable material, and how it compares to marble. What do you think?
The first of its kind, the A.I Dining Chair is a revolutionary design — conceived jointly by legendary French designer, Philippe Starck and the A.I. software, Autodesk. Composed of entirely sleek and futuristic lines, it shows how man and machine can collaborate to create beautiful seating solutions. Crafted entirely from 100% recycled thermoplastic technopolymers, its carbon footprint is equally light — a chair from the future if ever there was one? A.I. Lounge chair is named after the generative process that allows designers to input goals, materials and construction methods – the software explores all the possible options, generating designs that can take their place in the circular economy at the end of its life.
Wellness in interior design is so important, and there are so many facets to consider – one of them being the effect of a fitting on the air around it. This is aided by an integrated filter in this LED pendant light – the Teleta is a suspension LED lamp that is sustainable as well as beautiful in design, compiled of an upper stoneware or aluminium component, with a filter built into the top of the fitting for air purification. The Teleta project was born with the precise purpose of reusing the energy lost as heat from LED sources, hence improving their energetic sustainability. The lamp heats the air in the upper part, generating a convective motion. The heated air passes through a filter made of galvanized aluminum mesh, treated with silver ions, purifying itself.
These 100% paper yarn rugs have a crisp, linear design, and apparently don’t create dust. The Finnish manufacturer designs products to last, are members of the Good Weave organisation, and their Italian wooden furniture manufacturer and metal component supplier both have ISO 14001 environmental systems in place. The compactness of the wood fibres and the tight weave of the paper yarn carpet makes it durable and strong, and ensures the paper yarn carpet does not gather dust, (nor does dust or fiber come off the carpet) – important for dust allergy sufferers. The materials and dyes used are safe for health, and don’t contain any animal-derived finishing materials, making the rugs are 100% vegan.
Hand weaving high-quality, durable rugs takes skill and expertise. This is long-established in renowned locations such as India, where artisanal production and minimal use of chemicals mean low environmental impact. C-C Tapis rugs can take between 12-16 weeks to make, where the process is meticulously executed by hand, making each piece rich in culture and tradition. The rugs are made the same way they have been for centuries – a process that is environmentally friendly by nature – no synthetic materials, industrial machines, acids or chemicals are used.
This collection includes low, high and console tables, as well as a writing desk made by UV bonding 12 mm thick ground polished extra-light glass slabs. The material surface is then coated with a special grit in ground Murano glass, available in amethyst, light blue and topaz colours. Recycling should be seen as a last resort when considering the product circularity, though this glass is recyclable. The table has the top UV bonded to the base, so the complete table should be very robust and last a long time – if cared for appropriately, the UV bonding should last ‘indefinitely’. This is truly an investment piece to bring joy for years to come.
When sourcing, don’t forget…
An important consideration when sourcing products is transport, which is a big part of the carbon consideration. Where a product is made and where it is eventually installed can be very different, in the global market. It’s important to consider the implications of local specifying, pre-loved, etc – but if there isn’t an option available then choosing from further afield is an option. Check how the supplier manages their carbon use – do they offset the delivery cost, creating a climate neutral proposal for example? We’ve put together some important Sustainability considerations for when renovating in one of our previous blogs, read more here.
Do you need help with renovating sustainably, or would like some assistance in your renovation project in general? We oversee Interior Design and Project management in London and Brighton, contact us now to discuss.