The Pennyfields chair with the Whitechapel slim dining table

Being a small company, we could immediately rule out a lot of processes that came with the caveat of expensive tooling, large injection moulds etc. Another determining factor of the project was bamboo. This exceptional material had become a passion of mine since being introduced to it properly in 2007 when I started at Pli. I was also influenced by the resurgence of mid–century classics in the current market. At Pli, we already have a range of tables – Whitechapel – influenced by the Utility era, so it was a natural progression to move onto the benchmark of a furniture designer: the dining chair.

Some of the chairs that inspired me. I didn't get to sit on all of them unfortunately

To me, a successful mid–century design is an effortless balance of components that pushes the technical properties of the material just far enough, while all the time making sure the material finish remains at centre-stage. Take the PK9 chair by Poul Kjaerholm for example: the chrome steel base flows gracefully in to the almost–sculptural upholstered leather seat. It is so simple yet at a glance you can tell the design had been mulled over for months and years, and every part is just–so.

Armed with these ideas plus: cardboard, pencils, two glue guns (one never worked), plastic tube, wood dowel and a CAD suite (with printer), I spent the early evenings of last summer forming the silhouettes of the design. An early breakthrough was choosing to use turned bamboo for the legs rather than a more complex CNC machined part. The warm caramel finish complemented the gloss of painted steel, which I had also chosen as the structural material for the chair.

Using card and pencils for legs I thrashed out some quick ideas to see what parts people liked best.

Once I had a good idea of the geometry in CAD I made a "sit-on" mock up to test to see if it was actually what I wanted.

Despite some quick progress, in June I hit an early stumbling point. Some of the manufacturing processes I had initially chosen for the project because of the “no–tooling” criteria meant parts had become too expensive to make competitively in the current market. Fortunately, at the same time London Metropolitan University were offering members of the Metropolitan Works scheme to apply for grants under their ‘Metamorphosis’ program, which aim was to support the product development of London design businesses. I entered and subsequently won one of the grants in July. The grant helped transform the project, supplying the much needed finance and expertise, to let the design develop passed the restrictions of the initial brief. We produced a run of 10 prototypes and the ‘Pennyfields’ chair was launched during London Design Festival in September 2010.

Metropolitan Works' workshop facilities were used to make the 10 production prototypes

The Pennyfields on show at 'The Dock', Tom Dixon's Portobello headquarters

Since then the chair has had a lot of national and European media interest. A sample was quickly shipped to our Danish agent and featured first in Danish interiors magazine ‘Rum’ in November 2010. In the UK, OnOffice and Elle Decoration then covered the chair in the March 2011 editions. My work on the chair also helped me get to the shortlist in the ‘Homes & Gardens – Eco Designer of the Year’, won by Samuel Wilkinson for the ‘Plumen’ eco bulb which went on to win the coveted ‘Brit Insurance design of the year 2011’.

The future of the Pennyfields chair looks good with the first production batch currently in the pipeline, as well the Pennyfields café table and desk also available. So I am hoping this time next year I will be walking past a restaurant in London somewhere and see people enjoying their meal sitting on a Pennyfields chair.

The idea for the Pennyfields project was to create a simple, elegant chair that required minimal tooling and that could be manufactured for a realistic cost. The choice of materials and manufacture were crucial to the project. We chose steel and bamboo because we could control the forms easily without the restriction of high tooling costs and long lead-times. The development of the chair has happened over the last six months but the design thinking extends further back, even before the development of the brief. Here is a short overview of the ideas and experiences that have resulted in the Pennyfields chair.

Creating this chair on a very tight budget was extremely rewarding. We had to call on all our collective experience in the steel fabrication and furniture design. I started my career in the drawing office of a steel manufacturer. I learnt the importance of really understanding the manufacturing process when designing a product. This design philosophy was further enhanced by my time at Formway Design. Based in New Zealand, it has the reputation of being one of the best office furniture design studios in the world. Their designs of note are the Life and Generation task chairs for Knoll, and the Free desk system for Bretford, a subsidiary of Herman Miller. All of these designs have had success at Neocon with multiple best-in-show awards. As well as assisting on various development teams, my role at Formway was to refresh the Free and Grid2 desk systems for the new digital workspace. This project created aesthetic changes in the shape, colour, and style as well as improving the ergonomics of desks for the emerging prominence of LCD screen technology.

Upon moving to the United Kingdom I began my time at Pli Design Ltd. I was drawn to the company by the Reee chair, a revolutionary chair which uses 100% recycled Sony PlayStation plastic in its construction. I was also introduced to another material, bamboo, which Christopher at Pli had been using since 2003. It was first used for the Hoop table, then for the Grass collection and finally for the Whitechapel collection which directly influenced the Pennyfields chair’s design.

At Pli we enjoy a rich connection between production, design and sales. Being a small company means that “achievable” designs aren’t just a requirement, they are a must. If we can’t make a design in batches of either fifties or hundreds we don’t consider it, but neither can we commit to expensive tooling or large varieties of materials. This has created a ruthless development process which strips out excess detail whilst still maintaining high levels of aesthetic, ergonomic and manufacturing quality.

Pennyfields chair, 1:1 cardboard model of early concept

The Pennyfields chair project started in February 2010. Since then the design has gone from pen, to pad, to computer, to cardboard and back again more times than I care to remember. Through every step the aesthetics, ergonomics and manufacturability of the design have been honed and tightened until the chair design was launched in its production-ready state at the London Design Festival in September 2010. Along the way it also won a ‘Metamorphosis’ development grant from London Metropolitan University for its innovative combination of bamboo and fabricated steel.

The fabricated nature of the chair means the development of the wider range is already under way. This will include a range of chairs and tables, all speaking the same design language, suitable for both the home and office.

The Pennyfields chair at The Dock during London Design Festival

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.

Reusing existing furniture is an interesting topic for a furniture manufacturer to be talking to its customers about. If we encourage you to try and achieve MR Credit 3.2: Materials Reuse—furniture and furnishings we are turning away business, because to gain the LEED point for MR Credit 5 30% of your furniture and furnishing budget should be spent on salvaged, refurbished or used products. Here at Pli we realise due to environmental issues the way furniture companies do business has to change, so we are trying to come up with our own ideas before we are regulated to into a way of working that may not work for our business.

Wrap & Whitechapel refurbishment diagram

If you can see the benefit in this thinking our products are for you, as they are built to be refurbished into “as new” products at the end of their life. This means you get “as new” products as well as qualifying for a LEED point. During refurbishment you also have the opportunity to change paint colours and even add after market accessories like seat covers so you can respond to the latest trends or match new products with out having to throw away perfectly good furniture. Think of us more as your furniture service provider rather than distributor.

All of our products are designed so in someway they can be refurbished or serviced. We will start with the Wrap table as it is most refurbish-able product of the range.

Wrap

• Repaint-able steel surfaces – The powdercoated finishes allows you to recoat the table top as much as you want. If you also want a new colour to match your new interior now is the time to do it.
• Solid FSC Ash components – The leg and end details are only quick sand and oil away from being as good as new.
• Durable OSB core – This durable core material can be put straight back into service after inspection and any damaged holes are easily repaired.
• Fastening and fixings – A small but essentially part of Wrap will transfer easily between tables

Reee Chair

• 100% Recycled plastic seat and back – Each seat or back panel is made up of 14 ribs. If any one of those ribs is damaged they can be replaced on-site. Any damaged parts will then go back into the recycling stream to be made back into new Reee chair parts.
• High-tensile steel tube frame – Most frames should be able to go back into service with a wipe down. Any paint damage can easily be touched up or the frame can be completely re-coated. Any frames damaged beyond that will simply be recycled.
• Accessories – There are also soon to be available covers for chair that will completely transform the chairs creating a whole new upholstered look.

Whitechapel collection

• Solid Bamboo panels – The oiled bamboo surface needs to be treated with more respect that the powdericoated surface on Wrap, but we chose an oiled surface because it is easily repaired and doesn’t have to be completely striped back before re coating.
• Repaint-able steel legs – The the legs on Whitechapel tables are easily repainted but most of gthe time they will only need a quick wipe down.

So with a little bit of forward thinking we can help your future projects earn LEED points at a fraction of the cost without having to compromise on style or quality….. best of all we will never see any of our furniture being needlessly buried in a landfill.

In the UK each year DEFRA studies have shown the UK construction industry is the largest producer of waste in England.

…The Government’s Waste Strategy for England 2007 identifies the good potential to increase resource efficiency in construction and reduce waste. The construction industry is a major source of waste in England, using the highest tonnage of solid material resources in any sector, over 400 million tonnes. The construction, demolition & excavation (CD&E) sector generates more waste in England than any other sector, and is the largest generator of hazardous waste, around 1.7 million tonnes…

As new regulations are created to curb this environmental catastrophe, construction waste is costing companies fortunes in disposal penalties.

To encourage participating developers to look more at the construction waste issue, LEED offers points to Material Reuse (called MR Credits). In future posts, I will talk how this relates directly to furniture reuse and refurbishment (MR Credit 3.2) and Recycled content (MR Credit 4), but before then I want to talk about how Pli offers a unique opportunity to help score points in MR Credit 3.1: Materials Reuse.

Pli’s Wrap table, which normally uses Oriented Strand Board (OSB) in its core, was designed to accept various board materials. This means it is possible to reuse a percentage of your own project’s construction waste in the manufacture of your new Wrap tables. We will work with your construction company to divert suitably selected waste boards back into the core of your tables. Those tables will be treated by Pli as new and covered by all our warranties.

Points earned from using the recycled board would naturally fall under MR Credit 4: Recycled Content. However, considering you are using recycled waste from your own construction site, we also think you have a strong case for including the tables in your points calculation for MR Credit 3.1.

BREEAM is the UK version of the US based LEED building certification system. BREEAM is a good system but does not have as much emphasis on interior furnishings. Fixed furnishing, such as fitted cabinets, falls under BREEAM but loose furniture does not. We want our products to make as much impact on a project as possible. Using BREEAM, our furniture would be purchased in the spirit of the project, but using LEED it makes a positive contribution to the overall interior project rating.

Example of the LEED points label for commercial interiors

The following posts in the “LEED & Pli” series will explain exactly how our products will earn points for your project. Over the certification process, Pli’s products can help towards 10 out of 100 possible LEED Commercial Interior certification points, and at least 1 of the 6 extra points available in the Innovation in Design section. (see LEED label above).

With the difference between the various levels of certification being 10 points, your choice of furniture could be the difference between just certifying your project and achieving silver, gold, or platinum certification. Considering the cost of the furniture compared to the total cost of some building projects, there are valuable points to be earned.

Over the next few months we will be looking at some of the different criteria involved, with regards to furniture and commercial interiors, in gaining LEED accreditation . The first step for you is to visit the LEED website, then download the LEED 2009 for Commercial Interiors Rating System and become familiar with the sections that will be relevant to the series. Below is an outline of the posts with relevant section heading and pages which you can refer back to the LEED 2009 for Commercial Interiors Rating System.

1. Why LEED? an introduction to the LEED system and why we choose it.
2. Material reuse. Using building waste in furniture manufacturer. MR Credit 3.1 page 31
3. Material reuse – Furniture & Furnishings. How refurbished furniture can save waste. MR Credit 3.2 page 32
4. Recycled content. Incorporating recycled material into new furniture. MR Credit 4 page 33
5. Regional materials – Manufacture. How using locally manufactured products help. MR Credit 5 page 34
6. Regional materials – Extraction , harvesting & recovery. Where does every component come from and why it is important. MR Credit 5 page 34
7. Rapidly renewable materials. The use of fasting growing material in furniture. MR Credit 6 page 35
8. Certified wood. The importance of using certified wood in your projects. MR Credit 7 page 36
9. Low-emitting Material. How furniture effects the air quality of your interior. IEQ Credit 4.5 page 52-53
10. Now & into the future. A summary of the series with a look at future directions for LEED & PLI.

For more information abut the Pumpkin film, visit the website at www.pumpkintv.co.uk or have a browse through their YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/ChannelPumpkin

Enter open source innovation; it is not the newest idea in town and it has been around in the scientific community for quite some time. And more recently, it was featured heavily in the community of software development which led to the creation of Creative Commons. It is a license for sharing data under a limited right of usage, which allows open sourcing to be done more securely. Nevertheless, this is a relatively new idea in the world of product design; an idea where innovation is developed by external sources, particularly the users themselves.

International license for open source sharing

This user-led innovation can ensure that the consumers get the products that they desire while also ensuring the manufacturers that their products will benefit the consumers. This contradicts the traditional way of design, where the designers will create, develop and make the products according to their observation and researches.  Eric Von Hippel, a leading expert in open source innovation, argues that the old mentality where ‘one size fits all’ can lead to a dissatisfied user, because the needs of each consumer are various. These users would also customize the product themselves and compromise the overall quality.

During my last 4 weeks with Pli, my internship was focused on how to apply open-source thinking to design. I have conducted various researches on the subject, looking at the benefits and the difficulties. I concluded that the project would have to be based on a working model in both the design process and the business process.

I separated the models into 4 categories based on how much control the designer has over the project:

• ‘Crowd sourcing’ is where the designer share the idea to the users and innovate through their responses
• ‘Playground’ is where the users adapt or create based on a template that the designer has given
• ‘User-Generated Content’ is where the users come up and present ideas for the designer to look at and produce
• ‘Democracy’ is where multiple users design something and collaboratively arrive at one consensus for the designer to produce

After some analysis, we felt that the ‘Playground’ route would work best with the values that Pli has, in term of sustainability and quality of the product. This method would allow Pli to demonstrate quickly with furniture design, how the users could interact, adapt and innovate with the template that Pli would give them. This also fits in well with Pli’s previous ’09 intern project: design for take back and re-use. Christopher and me also felt that this method would ensure the high standard of furniture that Pli offered.

As of this writing, the project is ongoing and still developing but I will not be with Pli long enough to see the full implication of this idea. However I do hope that when this project is finished, it will produce some fantastic innovation by the users that would never cross my mind.