CAFOD’s facilities manager Quentin Padgett said,

“Our staff and volunteers love the tables and chairs supplied by Pli. They fit well in our naturally ventilated and low energy office building. The use of recycled and recyclable material fits well with our aim to reduce our impact on the environment. The building has been designed to reduce running costs and to have a robust quality, and the furniture supplied by Pli reflects this.”

Whitechapel bamboo tables and Reee recycled chairs at CAFOD

Pli supplied 18 bamboo restaurant tables and 72 recycled plastic chairs from its range for the top-floor staff restaurant. The restaurant boasts a panoramic view of the London skyline taking in the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, St Paul’s and the Gherkin. The space is used for meetings and social gatherings as well as meals so it was important that the furniture could withstand constant use and a changing layout.

The ‘Reee’ chairs, made in the UK from recycled electronics equipment (100% PlayStation games console casings) stack ten chairs high so they can be stored or moved efficiently. The Whitechapel tables seat four diners and are made from laminated strips of solid bamboo which means they are both extremely robust and naturally sustainable. Their bamboo-and-steel frames are designed for quick disassembly and refurbishing when required.

Tables and chairs on the mezzanine floors

Pli’s director, Christopher Pett commented,

“We were thrilled to supply our furniture to CAFOD: not only is their cause good but their new building is really impressive, both environmentally and aesthetically. We have noticed that so-called “third sector” organisations are leading the way in procurement for new sustainable architectural projects and we have supplied our furniture to charities like the RSPB and the Eden Project as well as to CAFOD. This means sustainable contract furniture can find a home in any project, since the third sector has much tighter budgets than profit-making organisations but they know how to procure designs that reflect their own principles.”

Pli’s furniture is available through distributors and retailers throughout the UK. All Pli’s furniture is made in the UK to exacting quality standards and sustainable design principles. For more information contact Christopher Pett or Alex Whitney on 020 8670 6857 or office@plidesign.co.uk.

Black Architecture won the Grand Designs Award 2010 for their Deckhouse project and achieved the coveted ‘Excellent BREEAM rating for the CAFOD building. They can be contacted on 020 7021 0068 or contact@black-architecture.com

Pli is holding a summer sale of eco-friendly furniture at our workshop in London. We have introduced further price reductions – and some new pieces – to make it even better value for money. To view the sale items and buy online, go to http://www.plidesign.co.uk/sale.

Check back from time to time: we are adding prototypes and display samples as well as end-of-the-line stock all the time, to make room for new deliveries in the next few weeks.

There are 40-65% discounts available so do take advantage and pick up a bargain price on some lovely furniture. There’s free delivery to UK addresses, too.

Have a look at the sale list below…

The Reee chair

Made from 100% recycled computer games consoles. The award-winning Reee chair is the first chair ever made from recycled electronic equipment. It’s amazingly comfortable; the strong plastic ribs flex and adapt to your shape and posture. The gaps between the ribs allow for ventilation. The sturdy steel frame is stackable. The chairs in the sale are ex-display: excellent condition.

• Dimensions: W 51 x H 87 x D 59 cm
• Weight: 5 kg
• Regular price: £172
• Sale price: £60
  

The Whitechapel coffee table

Made in UK from solid bamboo and powder-coated pressed steel. The Whitechapel coffee table is built to last a lifetime in a busy home; the bamboo is very strong, hard-wearing and naturally stain resistant. The steel legs are easily assembled and removed for storage. The bamboo surface is coated with a natural food-safe wax, so you can refinish it regularly without needing to strip the surface. There are no sharp corners or points on this table so your family can clamber over it safely at any age! The sale items are brand new and boxed ready for home assembly (instructions are included).

• Dimensions: W 90 x D 58 x H 36 cm
• Weight: 7 kg
• Regular price: £293
• Sale price: £146

The Grass TV console / coffee table

Made in UK from bamboo-veneered wheat straw panels with powdercoated pressed steel legs. The Grass table has been featured on BBC2’s “Home” interiors show and the popular book “1000 New Eco Designs” by Rebecca Proctor. The cutting-edge eco-friendly materials are used to make an incredibly practical, simple TV console or coffee table in the 1950s Utility style. Generous cut-outs in the back panel allow you to slide big British plugs through, so you can connect your TV, DVD, games console, telephone or any other electronics with ease. he sale items are brand new and boxed ready for home assembly (instructions are included).

• Dimensions: W 120 x D 40 x H 39 cm
• Weight: 18 kg
• Regular price: £299
• Sale price: £149
  

Whitechapel side table / bedside table

Made in UK from solid bamboo and powder-coated pressed steel. The Whitechapel side table is built to last a lifetime in a busy home; the bamboo is very strong, hard-wearing and naturally stain resistant. The steel legs are easily assembled and removed for storage. The bamboo surface is coated with a natural food-safe wax, so you can refinish it regularly without needing to strip the surface. There are no sharp corners or points on this table so your family can clamber over it safely at any age! The sale items are brand new and boxed ready for home assembly (instructions are included).

• Dimensions: W 50 x D 29 x H 56 cm
• Weight: 6 kg
• Regular price: £293
• Sale price: £146

Whitechapel dining table

Made in UK from solid bamboo and powder-coated pressed steel. The Whitechapel dining table is built to last a lifetime in a busy home; the bamboo is very strong, hard-wearing and naturally stain resistant. The steel legs are easily assembled and removed for storage. The bamboo surface is coated with a natural food-safe wax, so you can refinish it regularly without needing to strip the surface. There are no sharp corners or points on this table so your family can clamber over it safely at any age! The dining table seats 6-8 people.

• Dimensions: W 2000 x D 1000 x H 73 cm
• Weight: 43 kg
• Regular price: £1,586
• Sale price: £793

Whitechapel occasional tables at Liberty

The tables offer rounded corners and hidden joints to create a quietly elegant design that is also strong, sturdy and, above all, useful. The solid bamboo panels are naturally stain resistant and very hard wearing. The laser-cut pressed steel legs are powder-coated in either cream or black-olive colour-ways.

The Whitechapel tables can be bought at Liberty on Great Marlborough Street in London’s West End from June 2010.

The Whitechapel dining tables combine super-strong solid bamboo panels with laser-cut steel legs and supporting bamboo beams. Pli’s Director, Christopher Pett, explains, “The principle of this design is to use bamboo for its unique properties, not simply as a replacement for wood. As well as being a fast-growing, natural material, bamboo also has strength and hardness that most varieties of timber can’t match. It’s naturally stain resistant and it has a beautiful, distinctive grain. These features make bamboo a perfect material to use in contemporary homes for casual kitchen and dining tables.”

4-seater kitchen table

Pli’s design manager, Alex Whitney, adds, “We wanted to create a range of furniture that is effortlessly sustainable, from the sourcing of the raw materials to the local manufacturing and the ease of disassembly for regular refurbishing. All the parts can be replaced or refurbished with very little effort. We use a common leg across the whole series so our customers can buy a bigger table top if they need one, without needing to replace the steel legs. They can even have the leg colour changed regularly if that’s what they want.”

Pli at Grand Designs Live 2010

The Whitechapel dining table range starts with a 4-seater table, 90 x 90 cm square, for kitchens, lounge dining and restaurants. The ’slim’ dining table, 160 cm x 80 cm, seats 6 and is aimed at diners in houses and flats where space is at a premium. The full-size dining table seats 8 comfortably, with a 201 x 90 cm top. Pli has produced a custom 10-seater table with a 240 x 90 cm top in response to a customer request at Grand Designs Live, and this has now entered the range as the largest dining table that Pli can make from a single bamboo panel.

Custom 10-seater dining table

In three pieces and at an impressive 3.7 metre length, the 12-seater Whitechapel boardroom table is the largest table that Pli produces. It’s designed for contemporary, eco-friendly offices and features a very large cable-management tray in the centre. the boardroom table is designed to come apart to form two separate desks.

Whitechapel boardroom table

The Whitechapel dining table range can come packaged with Reee chairs, made from 100% recycled computer games consoles. Pli can even match the leg colours of the tables and chairs to meet our customers’ needs. The Reee chairs are comfortable, easy to keep clean and refurbish and they stack for space-saving storage.

Bamboo dining table top

The Whitechapel dining tables are available in a variety of laminated solid bamboo panel configurations. All the dining tables are supplied with at least 3 layers of bamboo forming the top panel, to make it stable and strong for the lifetime of the product. Customers can select different colours and grains to match their interior, with the ‘caramel’ colour proving by far the most popular so far.

Laser-cut steel legs support the solid bamboo frame

The Whitechapel dining tables are available for contract customers directly from Pli and domestic customers can see the tables at Places and Spaces in Clapham or by appointment at Pli’s workshop. Pli will hold a warehouse sale of the prototype Whitechapel tables we have produced in the lead-up to the launch of our new range. The sale will run throughout the last 2 weeks in June, from 21 June to 2 July.

Reee chairs stacking 10 high

The new frame design of the Reee chair allows you to stack them 10 high. The 100% recycled plastic seat nests with the high-tensile steel tube frame so the chairs don’t roll forward off the stack, making it very stable.

In line with manual handling guidelines, we recommend that you do not attempt to move more than 4-5 chairs at a time, in a stack, if you are moving them on your own without mechanical assistance. We can supply chair trolleys that allow you to move a stack of 10 Reee chairs safely.

The footprint of 10 Reee chairs stacked together is only 12% bigger than a single chair, so they are very space-efficient for storage and handling.

Other benefits of the Reee chair:

• Competitive price
• Comfortable ergonomic design
• 100% recycled plastic from computer games consoles
• Made in UK
• Designed for disassembly
• Easy to repair and refurbish
• Available in three frame colours: black, stone grey and light blue

You can find out all about the Reee chair’s specifications here.
You can read about the background to the unique source of recycled plastic in the Reee chair here.
Contact Pli to get a quote or find a dealer that can supply your home or contract needs.

Liberty, the world-famous department store on the corner of Regent Street and Great Marlborough Street in London’s West End, now sells the Whitechapel side tables and occasional tables as part of their collection of contemporary British furniture.

If you’re in north London, go to twentytwentyone in Islington. They have a fantastic collection of modern furniture designs from Vitra, plus the best in contemporary furniture design. The Whitechapel tables are part of their new range of contemporary furniture designs. Twentytwentyone also manages contract furniture projects.

Clapham’s coolest furniture shop, Places and Spaces, is the exclusive UK agent for world-famous Dutch design house Droog. They sell a carefully selected range of furniture and accessories for style-conscious customers. The full range of Whitechapel tables, from coffee tables to casual dining tables, is available to buy from Places and Spaces now.

Whitechapel occasional table at Places and Spaces

Visit our “Find a Retailer” page for details of these retailers. We put a lot of thought into selecting the shops we wanted to stock our furniture. These shops are really committed to bringing good value and great design to their customers. They are lovely to work with and we can guarantee you will get good prices and friendly service.

So, if you want to buy a piece of sustainable British design, with sleek lines, clever details and built to last, pick the Whitechapel table that suits your needs at Liberty, twentytwentyone or Places and Spaces. You’re sure to find more furniture, homeware and accessories at these amazing shops to complement our designs.

Pli is exhibiting our Whitechapel tables and Reee chairs at Grand Designs Live 2010. Come and try our products, chat to our designers and take furniture away with you: we’ll have stock on-site that you can buy on the day.

OFFER: Buy our furniture and recover the cost of your ticket to Grand Designs!

Weekend tickets for 1-2 May and 8-9 May cost £10 in advance; weekday tickets for the days in between cost £13. Make sure you register in advance because tickets cost more on the door.

If you buy any piece of furniture from Pli during Grand Designs Live 2010 we will discount the price of your ticket from the value of your order, so you will effectively get all the benefits of Grand deigns Live for nothing. This offer is open to all customers so, if you go to Grand Designs Live as a couple, buy a table each and we’ll refund both your tickets!

If you’d like to attend Grand designs Live 2010, click here to register for tickets. Contact us if you’d like to make an appointment to meet us and try our products on Stand E68 in the Design Arcade. We’ll make sure we’re available to demonstrate our furniture at the time you choose.

All our products come with free delivery so, if you want to place an order at the exhibition for home delivery at a later date, that’s no problem.

Grand Designs Live is a great exhibition, with loads to see and do for families, home decorators, design addicts and fans of the eponymous TV show. Hope to see you there.

Pli at Midcentury.Modern

In fact it was just me: my colleague Alex had a family thing in Kent. So I was lugging furniture over to our stand from the workshop from 7 til 9 in the morning, then pitching our wares all day. Knackering! Brilliant day: perfect weather for this time of year, lots and lots of nice people asking intelligent questions about our work, then buying it! Luckily I left with half the furniture I arrived with – just the dining table and chairs to return to the workshop. I’ve been running tables over to customers for the last two evenings.

The fair was enjoyable in other ways, apart from the sales we made. Everyone seemed in a really relaxed and receptive mood. I could talk to people about our furniture and what we’re trying to do, with the materials and designs, to make it more sustainable. I had loads of feedback and encouragement from visitors and from the really cool exhibitors on the stands around me. There were familiar friendly faces passing by; designers I know, a couple of journalists who have covered our stuff, a brace of nephews. Our neighbour Kurt was selling his Full Steam coffee from out the back of his tuk-tuk downstairs. Made me feel all warm and local.

We’re still offering the discounts to south London customers we were advertising on Sunday: if you picked up one of our leaflets, get in touch. Delivery is free. Our stock of side tables, TV tables and occasional tables is running down pretty fast so you should contact us soon if you need them delivered in the next couple of weeks.

I should thank Petra and Lucy who organise Midcentury.Modern as well as all the helpful people who handled the entrance and parking. We’ll be back at Midcentury.Modern in November.

This gives you access to our applied knowledge of the furniture industry and our proven manufacturing network, without the overheads of full-time staff, expensive technical resources or costly learning curves. In other words, we can save you time and money — and we can give you a saleable product with the benefit of all our experience.

Pli has offered expertise and know-how to other designers since 2005, resulting in the development of good products that would otherwise stayed as just good ideas. Take advantage of our production service to make your product idea into a reality.

Case Study 1: The Enzo stool for Ryan Frank

Project outcome

What do you get? A production model made by the manufacturing company we have selected as the best partner for your product, plus technical drawings, bill of materials and costings ready for the first batch of production. You’ll know how your product is going to be made, what it should cost (for both materials and manufacture) and how you should price it for retail.

Project costs

What will it cost? Pli charges in £75/hour increments. Costs will be estimated up front, with agreed limits. On top of the hourly rate, all expenses (including prototypes) are covered by the client.

We will provide you with:

• A project plan with milestones and gateway reviews
• Estimated costs of each stage of the project
• Financial analysis with target manufacturing costs and retail pricing
• Access to our manufacturers, supplier network and logistics
• CAD models and manufacturing drawings
• Applied knowledge of product development for the furniture industry
• Safety and standards testing
• A review and risk assessment of the product’s commercial viability

What we need from you, before we start:

• Proposed construction and materials for the product
• Ranked list of priorities for the product (e.g. price, quality, material, etc)
• Proposed recommended retail price for the product
• Proposed batch size
• Distribution or retailer interest
• Market analysis and existing market research
• Critical dates to be met
• Tooling budget
• Product development budget

What you own at the end of the project:

• All prototypes, tooling and material samples purchased during the project
• A full set of manufactured drawings and CAD parts/assemblies
• All design rights relevant to the project
• Pricing structure developed for your product

Notes:

• Under the terms of our agreement, you will not use any of the suppliers or manufacturers we identify in this project for the production of this design or a similar design, for at least 2 year following the end of the agreement.
• You can terminate the agreement at any time and simply pay for the work that has already been carried out.
• We will keep all of your information confidential.

Other services we can provide on a pay-as-you-go basis:

• Production management
• Marketing strategy, graphic design, promotion and communications
• Sales and distribution using Pli’s existing channels

Further Information

Contact Christopher Pett on +44 (0)20 8670 6857 or use our contact form to request more information about our resources, rates and availability.

No project is too large or small for us to consider: our hourly and daily rates are really competitive and we will offer a simple flat cost for predetermined project briefs. Our designers have worked in large design companies and know how to integrate with busy teams to cover overflow work. We also understand the need to keep costs low and to work at maximum efficiency because we design and manufacture our own products too.

We are happy to work under the terms of your confidentiality requirements or to supply non-disclosure agreements of our own to ensure your intellectual property is protected at all times.

Case Study 2: Re-form chair by Aaron Moore

Case Study 3: Binvention for Sprout Design Ltd