Sustainable designs

Innovation, insight and style. An increasing number of brands are embracing the challenge of bringing together thoughtful design with intelligent manufacture and innovative materials, stepping up to define what it means to be sustainable in the twenty-first century.

We take a look at a selection of sustainable furniture manufacturers and designers who have caught our eye with their approach to designing for a lifetime...

Ercol

Image: Ercol 2020 catalogue

Lucian Ercolani founded ercol in 1920, intent on designing and producing beautiful and honest furniture. A passion for innovation in design and manufacturing is as strong today as it always has been. Their 16,000 sq.m highly sustainable factory combines the very latest technology with time-honoured craftsmanship to create a range of unique pieces, made with integrity and fit for purpose.

For its centenary year, this British brand are launching new pieces that celebrate its long legacy of craftsmanship while looking forward to a new era. Originally launched in the 1960s as an extension to the popular Windsor range, the 467 cabinet has been re-issued in a selection of contemporary finishes, to mark the centenary.

Mater

Image: Mater

Mater is a conscious and ethical design brand with a strong design philosophy and focus on great craftsmanship. Through collaborations with an external base of established and fresh design talent, Mater combines exclusive high-end furniture and lighting, with working methods that support people, local craft traditions and the environment.

The Ray Lamps are a stunning new lighting series, combining oak and steel in a beautifully innovative contrast. Designed by Danish design studio PEDERJESSEN, the Ray collection has a strong aesthetic reference to Nordic minimalism and materials, whilst utilising low energy. The wooden globe shade is mounted inside the steel shell with magnets so that the user can position the beam of light in any direction.

noho

Image: noho

New Zealand furniture manufacturer noho believes furniture should look and feel good while doing good for our planet, too. They create earth-friendly designs that help clean up our oceans, protect our environment and enrich our homes, our well-being and our everyday lives.

noho tapped into ECONYL® nylon (composed of discarded fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring and industrial plastic sourced from landfills and oceans around the world) for its sustainable and regenerative qualities to reimagine conventional furniture design. Their ergonomic noho move™ chair is predominantly made from ECONYL® and was created to transform the traditional static nature of home furniture with a chair that flexes and flows with the body and is made to last a lifetime.

Tala

Image: Tala

Sustainable LED lighting, designed to last. Tala is an award-winning lighting brand, founded on the premise that good design can help mitigate climate change. From their London-based studio, they explore the tension between sustainability, technology and design through their wide-ranging collections.

Taking inspiration from the intricate patterns found in nature, the Tala design team created their signature Voronoi range to push the design of the light bulb to its limits. Mouth-blown and shaped in a solid steel mould, hand-assembled filaments with an iron tint finish, the Voronoi lamps go through a rigorous manufacture process, with no one bulb the same.

Takt

Image: Takt

TAKT is the furniture company rethinking the way to design, build and sell furniture. They believe in bringing high-quality design to more people in revolutionary, sustainable and transparent ways by creating refined Danish furniture for the mutual benefit of people and planet. All products are 100% eco-certified, come with a five-year warranty and can be separated out into key materials for recycling and worn parts can be replaced.

Designed by Thomas Bentzen, the T06 Soft Stool is both versatile and elegant. Its soft curves embody an honest design language in which all parts are visible and it is finished with the moulded veneer which lends the characteristics and tactility of cloth to the wooden top.