Sustainable design approaches using waste furniture materials for design students

Abstract

Sustainability has become one of the core concerns of current designers and makers. However, it is still evident that not every designer considers a choice of sustainable materials, manufacturing methods, afterlife or second use of their designs for furniture and other products unless the client, brief, customer or user demands it. The lack of established research for practice-based design practice with waste materials for designers has led to the development of a naturalistic approach within this work which is both craft-based and commercially focused. The central aim of the study is to explore how designs are sustainably approached in the commercial context of young product design companies in the UK, and to propose a set of practical guidance through design outcomes to help design students deal with environmental issues via design and waste material reuse. This research functions as an articulation of a research journey that provides a discursive platform for dialogue and review, facilitating new insights into a creative practice that contributes to new knowledge by efficiently crafting objects in a commercial context using discarded materials. This then shows that this form of waste can be adaptable and practicable as the main material for upcycling into commercial products in repeatable batch production runs. As a result, a product collection was produced to help gain a practised understanding of reusing elements of furniture waste as a primary material source and make creative connections through a structured process of reflection and discussion on practice. This work may inspire designers and students to reconsider the use of waste materials in their practice, to rediscover the beauty and usefulness of these materials, and through a structured design process using the guidelines make attractive commercial products, raise awareness of material reuse, and help to make a net positive environmental impact.