Recycling

Subterms

    Latest story

    125 Shares199 Views

    Space Available opens closed-loop design workshop and studio in Bali

    by

    Design studio Space Available has transformed a former warehouse in Bali into a workshop and office space featuring a mezzanine clad in offcuts from its plastic recycling projects.

    Situated in an industrial suburb of the island’s capital Denpasar, the building houses the first physical workspace for Space Available, which creates products and clothing from ocean plastic and other waste materials.
    Space Available has designed its own studio and workshop in BaliThe organisation, founded in 2020 by English designer Daniel Mitchell, wanted to create a studio that can act as a creative hub for hosting activities centred around the themes of recycling and closed-loop design principles that aim to keep waste materials in use.
    The space was designed to accommodate recycling machines, upcycling stations and a bio-design lab created in collaboration with MycoWorks – a Californian company that develops materials from mushroom mycelium for brands including Hermès.
    The studio makes products from recycled plasticMitchell and Space Available’s in-house architect Andika Permana oversaw the renovation of the 500-square-metre building, defined by typical industrial features including grey breeze block walls.

    “The raw warehouse space underwent a transformation of refinement to make it feel less industrial,” Mitchell told Dezeen.
    “We skimmed and painted the walls white along with painting the previously unfinished metal ceiling. Our aim was to create a clean, white, almost gallery-like atmosphere.”
    Offcuts from the production process were used to clad the stairsTowards the rear of the space, a double-height steel structure was erected to house the laboratory as well as an office on the upper level. This volume is clad in waste plastic offcuts that are repurposed from the studio’s homeware and furniture production.
    “The blue ‘marble’ structure stands out against the clean white backdrop, creating a dramatic ‘structure within a structure’ effect that really pops out as you enter the studio,” Mitchell added.

    Space Available and Peggy Gou create furniture from “heartbreaking” plastic waste

    The use of offcuts fits with Space Available’s mission to “change the perception of waste through elevated design”.
    In addition to forming the facade, the material is used to create shelving, furniture, speakers and other amenities throughout the building.
    The warehouse’s remaining open floor area functions as a flexible space for building and exhibiting projects or hosting events. Large shelving units at one end are used to store and display the studio’s furniture and archival products.
    The studio’s sheet material was also used to form various furnishingsSpace Available was founded during the coronavirus pandemic by Mitchell, who moved to Bali with his wife in 2014 after working in the fashion industry for several years.
    Shocked by the global plastic waste crisis that is evident in the volume of pollution washing up on Indonesia’s beaches, he wanted to develop a design studio that would explore circular design principles and revolutionise the perception of ocean plastic and waste.
    The organisation has recycled more than six million plastic bottles in its projects, which range from large-scale sculptural installations to furniture and fashion design.
    A shelving unit displays the studio’s furniture and archival productsIts furniture and solid surface sheet materials are made from waste plastic collected from rivers and landfills. The material is shredded, added to a mould and baked to create panels featuring vibrant colours and patterns.
    Space Available previously collaborated with South Korean DJ Peggy Gou to create a chair made from 20 kilograms of recycled plastic with an integrated compartment for storing records.
    The recycled plastic resembles colourful marbleIn 2022, the studio opened a dedicated gallery, recycling station and upcycling bar called Museum of Space Available in the coastal town of Canggu, which features
    The building features a facade made from 200,000 recycled plastic bottles and showcases the work of the studio alongside projects by other artists, designers and scientists.
    Another Indonesian organisation giving new life to plastic waste is Sungai Watch, which recently launched its first furniture designs made using discarded plastic bags.

    Read more: More

    More stories

    • 150 Shares159 Views

      in Rooms

      Hemingway Design and James Shaw create furniture from recycled clothes for Traid

      by

      Local studio Hemingway Design collaborated with designer James Shaw to transform a London store interior for charity retailer Traid, which features colourful furniture created from leftover second-hand clothes.

      Hemingway Design renovated Traid’s Shepherd’s Bush branch as part of a wider rebrand for the retailer to mark its 25th anniversary, including its visual identity.
      Hemingway Design has redesigned the Traid store in Shepherd’s Bush, LondonTraid sells donated clothing and accessories in 12 stores across London to fund global projects that tackle the issues caused by producing, consuming and wasting textiles.
      As part of the Shepherd’s Bush store refurbishment, Hemingway Design worked with Shaw to create furniture out of poor-quality clothes salvaged from the Traid sorting warehouse that the retailer deemed unsellable.
      James Shaw created furniture and lighting made from recycled clothesShaw, whose practice centres on repurposing waste materials, created curved pendant lighting from the leftover clothes, which were shredded back to fibres and combined with a plant-based binder.

      The designer applied this method to make the rest of the furniture. One piece is a low-slung bench for trying on shoes, upholstered with a yellow, green and blue patchwork of old denim jeans and corduroy trousers.
      Shaw designed the bench’s lumpy legs in his trademark extruded HDPE plastic, finished in the same colours as the patchwork seat.
      This included changing room door handlesElsewhere in the store, boxy pinewood changing room doors feature multicoloured handles created from the leftover clothes, defined by a speckled appearance thanks to the combination of shredded fibres.
      Silver scaffolding previously used for a different purpose in the original shop layout was used to create a “staff picks” clothes rail positioned at the front of the store.
      The designer combined shredded fibres with a plant-based binder. Photo by James Shaw”To align with Traid’s manifesto of reducing waste and prolonging the lifespan of items, a fundamental objective of the refurb was to reuse and repurpose existing fixtures and fittings within the store where possible,” explained Hemingway Design.
      British designer Charlie Boyden created chunky pastel-hued plinths from other offcuts and materials salvaged from the strip-out. They display merchandise in the shop window illuminated by more of Shaw’s clothing-based pendant lighting.
      Existing silver scaffolding was used to form a “staff picks” clothes railSwirly linseed-based oil-stained pine also characterises the geometric cash desk, fitted with an accessible counter and positioned in front of an existing timber stud wall painted in bold pink.
      Next to the counter, bespoke bright green Unistrut shelving creates additional space for hanging clothes and displaying shoes.

      Previously unrecycleable clothing made into Fibers Unsorted textile

      According to Hemingway Design, Traid has put 228 million garments back into use to date, saving 622,059 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 105.3 million cubic metres of water.
      “The charity retailer maximises the potential of the clothes you no longer wear, demanding change from a throwaway, fast fashion culture that continues to destroy this planet,” said the studio.
      Charlie Boyden designed display plinths using off-cutsShaw recently applied his extruded plastic designs to another store renovation in central London for shoe brand Camper, which includes a jumbo foot sculpture.
      Hemingway Design previously created a minimalist but colourful logo to celebrate 100 years of the Dreamland amusement park in Margate, Kent.
      The photography is by French & Tye unless stated otherwise. 

      Read more: More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Rooms

      Studio XAG creates fixtures for Coach pop-up using discarded leather scraps

      by

      A colourful, reconstituted leather made from cutting room scraps was among the recycled materials used to create the fixtures and fittings for Coachtopia, a London pop-up store for American label Coach.

      Located in the Wonder Room at Selfridges in London, the temporary store was created to launch a new collection of Coach products crafted from reused leather bags and recycled materials.
      Called Coachtopia, the collection seeks to challenge fashion’s linear system where most products end up in landfill.
      Coachtopia was located in department store Selfridges’ Wonder RoomEach of the products in the Coachtopia collection has a clear pathway for reuse and recycling, according to the brand, and comes with an embedded NFC chip that tracks its lifecycle.
      Chosen by Coach for its sustainable approach and B Corp-certified status, retail experience agency Studio XAG was commissioned to create a temporary store space to launch the product line.

      The resulting space, which features a modular display system made of recyclable parts that slot together, has been shortlisted in the retail interior (small) category of Dezeen Awards 2023.
      It features display counters made from reconstituted leather”The Coachtopia product line is designed to be ‘circular from the start’ – considering the future life of a product proactively, rather than reactively,” Studio XAG said.
      “We mirrored Coach’s circular ethos for the collection through three approaches to the physical space.”
      The first approach was to keep the use of virgin materials to a minimum by using repurposed neon flex, recycled leather scraps and Ecoboard – a material made from agricultural waste.
      The modular fixtures were “made to be remade”Secondly, Studio XAG ensured that the modular fixtures, like the products on sale, were ‘made to be remade’ and could be disassembled and repurposed at the end of their current use.
      Finally, the studio selected materials that offer meaningful recycling opportunities at their eventual end of life and said it considered the embodied carbon, toxicity and afterlife opportunities in every component.

      Akin Atelier houses Gallery Shop at Sydney Modern in “translucent bubble”

      “The challenge was to create a pop-up that would have visual impact, but could be dismantled and rebuilt in new locations, again and again,” explained Studio XAG.
      “Any items which couldn’t be used in a future pop-up, such as the hoarding and some of the wall panels, were donated to Selfridges to use in their future launches.”
      Studio XAG used Ecoboard to create displaysThe collection’s slogan Have Taste Love Waste, which serves as a statement of intent and action, was boldly written in neon signage crafted from offcuts of neon flex that would otherwise be discarded.
      The lighting will be reused for other key stores, including Coach’s flagship on Regent Street.
      The store’s slogan was made from reused neon flex”To create a sustainable lighting solution was a challenge, as most neon alternatives are manufactured from virgin materials,” explained Studio XAG.
      “To resolve this, we contacted a lighting manufacturer and requested that they collect all their offcuts from previous projects over the months leading up to the installation of Coachtopia,” it added.
      “All of these offcuts were then meticulously threaded together to make a unique set of signs, made up of hundreds of individual scraps which would have otherwise been thrown in the bin.”
      Studio XAG chose materials that “offer meaningful recycling opportunities”The Coachtopia tables and display units are covered in reconstituted leather made using scraps from the cutting-room floor that might have otherwise gone to landfill.
      These modular pieces can easily be taken apart using a system of slotting together rather than permanent glueing or fixing.
      Colourful leather scraps were used to create displaysEcoboard – a carbon-negative material manufactured in the Netherlands from seasonal agricultural waste like straw, seeds, rice and corn – was used in place of MDF. Unlike MDF, Ecoboard does not emit any damaging organic acids.
      “In the Wonder Room, visitors are given insight into what circularity means for the future of fashion,” commented the studio. “The space feels exploratory and educational, using sustainable materiality and clear signage as a guide.”
      Other projects shortlisted in the retail interiors (small) category include a gallery shop in Australia housed in a “translucent bubble” and a steel-clad boutique in Bratislava.

      Read more: More

    • 125 Shares119 Views

      in Rooms

      Daisuke Yamamoto presents recycled steel chairs under Milan railway arch

      by

      Japanese designer Daisuke Yamamoto presented recycled steel chairs on podiums of the same material as part of an exhibition in Milan, which has been shortlisted for a 2023 Dezeen Award.

      Yamamoto’s Flow project explores ways to minimise industrial waste by focusing on a single material – light-gauge steel (LGS).
      Daisuke Yamamoto presented his Flow chairs as part of the Dropcity showcaseCommonly used in construction as a strong, lightweight framing option, LGS is also one of the industry’s largest waste products, Yamamoto claims, as it is rarely recycled after demolition.
      The designer therefore chose to create a second life for the steel sheets and components as a series of sculptural chairs.
      The chairs were placed on podiums made from the same light-gauge steelHe also used LGS to form platforms for showcasing the seating designs as part of an exhibition at Milan design week 2023 that has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.

      “This project began with the awareness that everyday recycled construction materials are disposed of, then new construction begins – a so-called ‘scrap and build’,” Yamamoto said.
      Each of the recycled steel chairs had a different form”Using the iconic LGS material – one of the most popular materials normally used in framing systems throughout the interior wall structure – we transformed it into beautifully redesigned furniture, giving the materials a second chance,” he added.
      The exhibition formed part of the Dropcity showcase, which took place inside the Magazzini Raccordati spaces at Milan Central Station during the design week in April.
      A workshop bench was also placed at the centre of the spaceThese empty railway arches have a dilapidated, industrial aesthetic with peeling floors, stained tilework and exposed utilities.
      Yamamoto chose to leave the vaulted room largely as he found it but placed a series of platforms in two rows, upon which he presented the series of chairs.

      Six key trends from Milan design week 2023

      Track lighting was installed overhead to spotlight the elevated designs, each of which has a slightly different shape.
      In the centre of the exhibition, a workshop bench also built from lightweight gauge steel was used to fabricate more chairs during live demonstrations between Yamamoto and craft artist Takeo Masui.
      Yamamoto and Takeo Masui built more recycled steel chairs during live demonstrations”This is a landfill, a place where a volume of used LGS is collected,” Yamamoto said. “A place where the designer and craftsmen work hand in hand to recreate what was bound to be disposed into something new, a process of disassembling to re-assemble.”
      The intention was to not only showcase the material’s capabilities for reuse but also to allow visitors to engage with the process and ask wider questions about how society deals with waste.
      The demonstrations allowed visitors to engage with the processUsing waste materials produced by other industries was a key trend that Dezeen spotted during this year’s Milan Design Week, with designers and studios including Formafantasma, Prowl Studio, Atelier Luma and Subin Seol all looking to reduce the environmental impact of their products.
      The photography is by Takumi Ota.
      Future Landfill took place at Magazzini Raccordati from 15 to 23 April 2023 as part of Milan Design Week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

      Read more: More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Rooms

      Lab La Bla uses “hyper-ordinary materials” for energy operator HQ interior

      by

      Local studio Lab La Bla sourced diabase rock from a nearby mine and created seating from MDF and recycled cork for the interior of energy company E.ON’s headquarters in Malmö, Sweden.

      Lab La Bla designed the headquarters’ reception area, coat room and lounge area, while also creating furniture, sculptures and other accessories across nine floors of the 22,000-square-metre building.
      The studio aimed to create a sequence of space that had variety, while taking inspiration from sources including airport terminals.
      The studio used recycled materials for the interiors”Creating work for an office that houses 1,500 employees is both challenging and inspiring,” co-founders Axel Landström and Victor Isaksson Pirtti told Dezeen.
      “It’s about creating spaces and functions that cater to the many while offering a mix of focus, creative and social environments, so it’s really about designing for the masses without making it boring or generic,” they added.

      “There’s a current fascination about airport interiors in the studio, so for the reception area we drew from that source of inspiration.”
      Seating was made from MDFIn the reception area, the studio created a set of sunny yellow furniture made from medium-density fibreboard (MDF) covered in nylon fiber.
      “The overall project for us is sort of a reaction to dysfunctional and non-sustainable processes inherent within our industry,” the studio explained.
      “For the reception area MDF and screws have been coated with repurposed nylon fiber using a technology commonly seen in the automotive industry, resulting in furniture that celebrates leftover material but without compromising on durability.”
      A bench features a “melting” diabase stone detailFor the building’s central atrium, Lab La Bla designed an unusual bench that features a gloopy stone decoration resembling an oil spill.
      This was created using diabase stone, which is famous for its blackness and was mined nearby in southern Sweden. The process of creating it was informed by its setting at an energy company headquarters.
      Lab La Bla sourced local materials for the project”Since electricity and magnetism are essentially two aspects of the same thing – and E.ON being an electric utility company – we thought it suitable to introduce magnetism as a modelling tool,” Landström and Isaksson Pirtti explained.
      “The shape of the piece comes from dropping a lump of magnetic slime on top of a conductive material,” they added. “The slime seemingly randomly slump and drapes over a metal bar before settling in its final shape.”

      Moving Forward exhibition shows work by emerging designers at Stockholm Design Week

      Lab La Bla then scaled this shape up and hand-sculpted the shape from a single block of diabase, which was finally sandblasted and polished.
      “We see this process as an adventurous exploration in making a physical representation of the invisible force that shapes our world,” Landström and Isaksson Pirtti added.
      Mouth-blown glass panels form a three-metre-high sculptureThe studio also turned brick beams, left over from the construction of a school in Malmö in the early 1900s, into umbrella stands, and sourced mouth-blown glass panels from one of the few remaining producers of the material.
      This was used, together with dichroic glass, to create a three-metre-high glass sculpture with a graphic pattern that depicts a CT-scan of a wood-fibre material.
      Glass sculptures were formed inside hollowed-out tree trunksLab La Bla also created decorative vases and glass sculptures using molten glass blown into tree trunks that had been hallowed by fungal decay. The trunks were sourced from E.ON’s own local heating centre.
      These trunks “serve no industrial purpose, but are burnt for energy by E.ON and used for teleheating for Malmö,” the studio said.
      “We borrow these tree trunks to blow glass in them, before returning them to their final purpose.”
      Lounge sofas were made from ground-down wine corksIn the headquarters’ lounge areas, the designers created modular sofas made from ground-down wine corks sourced from restaurants.
      “The modular cork sofa uses a unique process where 100 per cent recycled cork is sprayed onto a foam structure, proudly incorporating signs of imperfection into the design while bringing superior durability and sustainability to your furniture,” Landström and Isaksson Pirtti said.
      A table has an office-style glass relief with a keyboardTo the designers, the aim of the interior design was to use disused or forgotten materials, as well as ones that were recycled and recyclable.
      “We took a conscious decision of picking hyper-ordinary materials such as MDF and aluminium to pinpoint and educate people about cyclic and sustainable qualities inherent in the processes of creating these materials,” the studio said.
      “We often try to celebrate the beauty and intrinsic qualities of everyday, industrial materials otherwise consigned to temporary or low-cost construction solutions,” it added.
      “We wanted to design objects which require significant time and skills from craftspeople, usually reserved for expensive, rare and high-quality materials – to some of the very inexpensive and found materials that we used throughout the project.”
      Lab La Bla’s designs have previously been shown at the Moving Forward exhibition at Stockholm Design Week and as part of the Metabolic Processes for Leftovers exhibition in Malmö.
      The photography is by Lars Brønseth.

      Read more: More

    • 163 Shares139 Views

      in Rooms

      Elly Ward designs own restaurant Edit using salvaged terracotta tiles and reclaimed materials

      by

      Architect and restauranteur Elly Ward has opened the low-impact restaurant Edit in London, drawing inspiration from its vegan, minimal-waste menu to create an interior filled with reused and recycled materials.

      Ward collaborated with her husband Joe Morris of architecture studio Morris + Company on the project, which was designed using low-intervention methods.
      “It’s been designed to be as circular as possible, which is the whole philosophy of the restaurant,” she told Dezeen.
      The Edit restaurant features exposed brick wallsEdit is located in a former factory and warehouse building in east London and connected to the adjacent Morris + Company architecture office.
      Visitors to the restaurant can view the studio’s models through a large glass door, adding a decorative touch to the space.

      This door and a window into the office were two of the main changes Ward made to the existing space, which she has transformed using recycled and reclaimed materials.
      A window connects the interior with the adjacent architecture studioThe building’s brick walls – including a former exterior wall that still features old advertising text – were retained alongside the warehouse’s cast-iron columns and beams, forming the structural fabric of the 197-square-metre restaurant.
      Ward added lightweight screen partitions that slot between the existing structures, including a wall made from wood and recycled polycarbonate that divides the main dining area from a smaller private dining room.
      A polycarbonate screen with wood shelving divides the spaceA warm red floor, made from screed topped with a water-based resin, matches the floor in the architecture office next door and contrasts the textured brick wall that Ward and Morris painstakingly unveiled from underneath layers of paint.
      At the rear of the space, the duo clad a wall in salvaged maroon terracotta tiles, which merge into the bar counter. These were among the many recycled materials that Ward used for the project.
      “I call them my wonky tiles because they’re like the wonky fruit and wonky veg of the industry that gets thrown away because it’s not a perfect carrot,” she said.
      Elly Ward filled the restaurant with vintage furnitureThe architect also reused the copper from an existing bar in the restaurant, which now clads the sinks in the bathroom.
      “It’s all about diverting waste from waste streams,” Ward said.

      Morris + Company combines energy hub and nursery in block that is “part elephant and part castle”

      “When you’re building something new, you have to get things,” she added. “If you can’t buy recycled or reclaimed, you have to look for renewable materials, things that would have otherwise gone to waste but you’ve made into something else.”
      “It’s almost a checklist of ‘how circular can you be?'”
      A red floor creates a warm atmosphereWard also sourced vintage Scandinavian school chairs to provide seating in the restaurant and complemented them with her grandparents’ wooden chairs and vintage Ercol seats.
      The accompanying tables have tops made by British company Foresso using waste wood chips set in a plant-based resin, creating an effect similar to wooden terrazzo and adding textural interest to the room.
      The tabletops are made from recycled wood and resinThe lighting in the space was handmade by British artist Peter Lanyon using wood salvaged from trees that were trimmed back in a local woodland in Devon. Pieces include a “chandelier” made from a piece of hazelwood with hanging lampshades made from cherrywood veneer.
      Throughout the restaurant, the colour palette adds a sense of warmth. While the main room has a red hue, Ward chose a calming green colour for the smaller private dining room.
      Lamps made from wood decorate the private dining room”We started with the red; it’s obviously such a strong colour,” Ward said. “I’m somebody who’s quite into colour and I’m not really afraid of it but I didn’t want it to be a ‘pop’ kind of place.”
      In the bathroom, the red hue is tempered by the decorative natural cork that clads the walls in both the main space and the toilet cubicles.
      “It’s all waterproof and actually really good for humid, damp environments and you can wipe it clean,” Ward said.
      Restaurant guests can admire architectural models while they eatTo Ward, there’s a connection between the food and architecture industries that she wanted to underline in Edit’s design.
      “I did a deep dive into the food industry and found out a lot of stuff about provenance and how a lot of the things we’re looking at in the architecture world about circularity and sustainability are kind of echoed in the food industry,” she said.
      “I wanted the design to match that philosophy.”
      Other vegan restaurants with decorative interiors include Humble Pizza by Child Studios in London and Sydney vegan cafe Gumbuya.
      The photography is by Jack Hobhouse.

      Read more: More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Rooms

      Semba Corporation creates own office interior from reclaimed materials

      by

      Interior construction firm Semba Corporation has renovated the interior of its headquarters in Tokyo to include reclaimed materials discarded during the demolition of other offices.

      The company’s redesign of its own office interior is shortlisted in the sustainable interior category for the upcoming Dezeen Awards, which will announce its winners next month.
      The interior is made from materials salvaged from demolished officesCalled Semba Good Ethical Office, the project features various pared-back tables, seating and shelving created from materials salvaged from previous office demolitions.
      This furniture is positioned across a single open-plan space in Japan’s capital, which is brightly illuminated by overhead lighting and rectilinear windows.
      Plinth-like seating and stairs forms a centrepieceA plinth-like centrepiece takes the form of both a staircase and a designated desk area, which was formed from boxy arrangements of surplus wood and old filing cabinets.

      Semba Corporation centred the interiors around two principles – “ethical” and “hackable” design – in order to complete the project, the company said.
      Semba Corporation applied its own design principles to the project”To incorporate ‘ethical design’, a circular interior design [theory], into the office renovation, we mined materials from unnecessary stuff generated by office demolitions,” Semba Corporation told Dezeen.
      “Under the theme of ‘hackable design’, we can redefine our working style and attitudes. We completely renovated our office to be friendly to the Earth, people and society,” explained the firm.
      Reconstituted foam was used to create padding on benchesAccording to the company, 80 per cent of the furniture in the Semba Good Ethical Office is reused, while the office achieved a waste-recycling rate of 99 per cent.
      Reconstituted foam was used to create the padding on benches that make up informal meeting booths, while various offcuts of wood were used to construct geometric shelves throughout the interior.

      Ten self-designed studios by architects and designers

      Semba Corporation explained that it hopes that other firms will begin to adopt similar design principles when creating their office interiors.
      “Especially in Japan, the lifespan from construction to demolition and disposal has become very short since [increasing] economic growth, and waste has been dumped in landfill,” the firm said.
      “However, Japanese culture has originally valued attachment to things and has an aesthetic sense to continue to use them with creative ideas. So I think our principles have an affinity to that culture.”
      “We hope that ‘ethical design,’ a future-friendly interior design, will be a basic principle in interior design for the future.”
      Reclaimed wood was used to form various shelvingSemba Good Ethical Office joins a group of existing self-designed studios that other firms have created to be more sustainable than the average office, according to the companies.
      These include German studio Urselmann Interior’s renovation of its studio to include biodegradable, recycled or upcycled materials.
      The images are courtesy of Semba Corporation.

      Read more: More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Rooms

      The Circus Canteen interior is a “collage of unwanted items”

      by

      Local studio Multitude of Sins has created an eclectic restaurant interior in Bangalore out of a mishmash of reclaimed materials, including discarded bicycle bells and cassette tape boxes.

      Officially called Big Top but known as The Circus Canteen, the restaurant is shortlisted in the sustainable interior category for a 2022 Dezeen Award.
      The Circus Canteen interior is made of almost all reclaimed materialsMultitude of Sins sourced the components that make up the interior from a city-wide waste donation drive held over several weeks.
      The materials were then painstakingly curated into distinct categories, ranging from home appliances to toy cars, and used to design an eclectic interior featuring mismatched furniture and flooring.
      Visitors enter through a series of scrap metal archwaysLess than 10 per cent of the materials used to create the interior were sourced as new, according to the studio.

      “The Circus Canteen [was informed by] the concept of creating a collage of unwanted items with a curatorial spirit,” Multitude of Sins founder Smita Thomas told Dezeen.
      Multitude of Sins created booths out of mismatched objectsVisitors enter the restaurant through a bold scarlet door decorated with unwanted bicycle bells and humourous hand horns, which is accessed via a series of labyrinthine archways made from teal-hued scrap metal.
      The archways are illuminated by alternative chandeliers composed of dismantled bicycle chains and old vehicle headlights.
      Some of the restaurant tables are decorated with old CDsInside, the two-level dining area is made up of custom tables and seating that double as a set of striking installations.
      Salvaged objects used to create these booths include abandoned sofas, obsolete bathroom ventilators and colourful coffee tables created from old oil barrels sliced in half and topped with glass surfaces.

      Space Copenhagen adds “otherworldly” pieces to Antwerp restaurant

      “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” acknowledged Thomas. “We have seen and felt this phrase come to life as we pieced together The Circus Canteen.”
      The restaurant’s flooring is a jigsaw puzzle-style mosaic of sample tiles sourced from ceramics stores, while a kitchen serving hatch is framed by a colourful collection of outdated cassette tape boxes.
      A serving hatch is framed by cassette tape boxesPrompted by the desire to create an eatery interior with a minimal carbon footprint, Multitude of Sins’ project responds to many designers’ growing concerns about the wastefulness of their industry.
      “The creation of each element – from custom lighting and flooring to art installations and furniture – was attributed to the mercy of the waste donation drive,” said Thomas.
      “It reminds us of adapting skillfully, to reinvent with agility.”
      The Circus Canteen intends to address wastefulness in the design industryThe Circus Canteen is part of Bangalore Creative Circus – a project formed by artists, scientists and other “changemakers” who host various community-focussed events in the Indian city.
      Other eateries that feature reclaimed materials include a restaurant in Spain with elements made from upcycled junk and site construction waste and a cafe in Slovenia defined by recycled components that create a mix of patterns and textures.
      The photography is by Ishita Sitwala.

      Read more: More

    • 125 Shares159 Views

      in Rooms

      Urselmann Interior renovates own office using recycled and biodegradable materials

      by

      Düsseldorf studio Urselmann Interior has renovated its own office interiors using biodegradable, recycled or upcycled materials, including glueless joinery and a cellulose-based wall cladding.

      The interior design studio said that it renovated its self-described “circular” office in the German city to only feature materials that are either recycled, upcycled or biodegradable.
      Urselmann Interior’s office is in DüsseldorfThese include existing wooden and terrazzo flooring that was salvaged during the renovation, as well as heaters obtained from resource-efficient building material platform Concular.
      Spread over one main workspace, a kitchen and a meeting room, the single-level office features clay paint walls and is designed to be used as both a co-working space and a showroom.
      The renovation includes a kitchen”The office also serves us as a laboratory in that we can [use it to] test new qualities, materials and construction methods,” project manager Liz Theißen told Dezeen.

      A solid wooden frame was used to create simple kitchen cabinets, which were constructed without glue so that the structure is fully demountable.
      Joinery was created without glue in much of the projectThe frame was fitted with panels formed from recycled strips of fabric supplied by textile brand Kvadrat from its Really collection.
      For its walls, the studio used Honext wall cladding – a cellulose-based material that is produced using paper sludge and cardboard waste.

      Honext develops recyclable construction material made of cellulose fibres from waste paper

      Poplar wood from a tree felled in the nearby city of Krefeld was chosen for the ceiling, which was also assembled without glue.
      Throughout the office, neutral and minimal colour and material palettes were applied to the interior design, which also includes clusters of carefully arranged potted plants and books.
      Second-hand lighting encased in wiggly orange felt from Hey-Sign adds a splash of colour to the otherwise sandy-hued atmosphere.
      Wiggly orange lighting adds a splash of colourTheißen explained that all of the components that Urselmann Interior used for the renovation have been listed in a published “material passport” that can be referred to for future projects.
      “We want to develop a new design language for ourselves, in which we smartly combine high-quality materials such as solid wood with ecological building materials as well as reusable components [to achieve] a positive footprint in the construction industry,” she concluded.
      Honext panels line the clay paint wallsUrselmann Interior is a Düsseldorf-based interiors studio founded by Sven Urselmann.
      Similar projects to the studio’s office renovation include a Madrid restaurant by Lucas Muñoz with furniture formed from site construction waste and a bar made out of recycled stereos, bottle crates and fridges by Michael Marriott.
      The photography is by Magdalena Gruber. 
      Project credits:
      Design and build: Urselmann InteriorFounder and designer: Sven UrselmannDesigner: Petra JablonickáProject manager: Liz Theißen

      Read more: More