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.
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