The debate and exhibition of the chairs took place at the Victoria & Albert Museum as part of the London Design Festival.
The eight-month project, called “Out of the Woods: Adventures of 12 Hardwood Chairs”, challenged Royal College of Art Students to design a functioning chair or seat in an American hardwood of their choice.
The designs were turned into prototypes with help from furniture manufacturer Benchmark. The project used a new LCA study on hardwood, prepared by sustainability experts PE International, to give every prototype chair an environmental profile.
“This project has given them the opportunity to really explore hardwood as a sustainable material; and the fact that they can also see and understand the full environmental impact of their design gives this collaboration extra relevance to today’s world, whilst setting it apart from many other student design initiatives,” said David Venables, AHEC’s European director.
