my sustainable furniture design..

The aim of this project was simply to design a piece of furniture that is in some way sustainable, it didnt necessarily needed to be the materials that made the piece sustainable, but it could be the sourcing of the materials locally to save on fuel emmissions or create jobs for the local economy etc.

I decided to focus on using waste materials an after looking at nature again for inspiration i found driftwood. Also from looking at sustainable wood forests and recycleable materials such as aluminium, i came up with my materials to focus on.

initial sketches with the planks of wood as an idea

deciding on a backrest design

editing the seat shape

deciding on the structure, legs

final sketch design

Verve is a piece of garden furniture, it has curved features and is generously sized, allowing the user to sit in comfort by theirself or in company. It has flat side surfaces either side of the ends of the seating panels, these can be used as armrests or as convinient table surfaces. It is made fully out of sustainable materials, the panels are made out of driftwood when available and combined or fully made out of sustainable wood when driftwood is not available.


My inspiration for this project came from looking at existing garden furniture products on the current market, all consisting of flat panelled surfaces, by having a curved seat and backrest that fit the users body shapes, this allows the user to experience a longer period of comfort while using the seat. With this in mind i decided to carry on the curved theme within my design to create a contemporary form for my young target market, this curved look also being reflected through the edgy connection of the tubular aluminium frame between the varying width of the wooden beams.

my first presentation board

my second presentation board