The creation of a new sustainable sofa by Nottingham company,
Trent Upholsteries, and Nottingham Trent University's sustainable
design project, Future Factory, could make the company greener,
more time and cost effective and create jobs in the local
area.
Aiming to design a sofa which would allow the company to keep
pace with the sustainability agenda, while also giving them a
competitive edge, Roger Paulson, managing director of Trent
Upholsteries, received support from Future Factory to access the
product design expertise within the University's School of
Architecture, Design and the Built Environment.
After researching a range of eco-design strategies and
undertaking a competitor analysis, the company decided to develop
their own furniture frames - previously bought in - sourced from a
sustainable wood.
The final specifications now enable Trent Upholsteries to make
the frame in-house and control the whole process, giving them the
opportunity to employ new workers to construct the frames.
Specially-skilled workers will then complete the
upholstery.
Packaging, transportation and installation will also be faster,
easier and lighter with the new design, as the sofa can be folded
into a box and delivered in an estate car, cutting down on the need
for larger delivery vans and saving fuel. Additionally, the
new feature of removable arms also mean they can be re-covered
separately if they experience wear and tear, rather than mending
the whole sofa, saving customers money and reducing unnecessary
material costs and consumption.
The sofa will be made entirely from natural, sustainable and
waste products, from the horse-hair, wool flock and coconut fibre
(coir) to be used for cushion padding, to the latex rubber to bond
the furniture together. All the screws and springs contained in the
sofa will also be completely recyclable and the company is
currently sourcing paper piping cord to edge the sofa, instead of
the industry standard, non-biodegradable plastic.
Roger Paulson said: "The quality of the finished product is
vital to its success so there is no compromise on the required
characteristics of each sustainably sourced material. If the sofa
is not strong or does not stand up to daily use then it is not
sustainable either. Not only are we using sustainable products,
we're building it to last a long time and then it can be
upholstered again.
"I was extremely impressed with the access we had to the
technology and University resources, which were crucial in
developing the project. The start-up costs of finding similar
technology and expertise elsewhere would have been prohibitive
considering the number of hours spent on the project. Knowing that
these costs were covered by Future Factory allowed me to spend time
investigating and purchasing the filling materials."
University technician, Carl Smith, worked with Roger to
translate his designs using Computer Aided Design and Computer
Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and to build prototypes. Carl said:
"Roger has been in the business for 40 years and has a wealth of
experience when it comes to furniture construction. He just needed
some extra support to make his ideas a reality. The innovative
design of this sofa brings a whole range of benefits to the
business and helps them to develop as a market
leader."
Future Factory is part-funded by the European Regional
Development Fund. It supports small and medium sized businesses
(SMEs) in the East Midlands to become more sustainable in a variety
of ways. The project offers free workshops and events, one-to-one
business mentoring and customised research. It connects SMEs to
experts in their field to develop specialised projects. It can also
help with funding towards the cost of employing a recent graduate
for up to one year.