This Brighton-based multidisciplinary design studio is on a mission to explore how waste materials can be transformed into furniture and objects without ever sacrificing aesthetics.
Spared loves an overlooked, surplus or site-specific raw material. Discarded coffee from Tate Modern's cafe, masonry from Aviva, shell waste for Virgin Voyages; every project the studio works on starts with this premise. Then follows a period of testing, making and refinement at Spared's Brighton workshop.
There is something rather poetic about the idea of taking waste from a client's site, space or operation and doing something positive with it, rather than simply adding to yet more piles of waste generated by industry. As well as exploring the possibilities of circular furniture design, the provenance of these pieces ensures a unique exercise in storytelling tied to place.
Founded by Callie Tedder-Hares and Emma Lally, this women-led studio was built on a shared ambition to show that reclaimed materials could be refined and design led. All too often this has been a stumbling block in the past when it comes to furniture made from waste. Not enough consideration is given to the final look of the object. Spared doesn't want to compromise on circularity, transparency, and experimentation. But it also believes that every piece needs to be crafted and beautiful.
Left: Project for Corner at Tate Modern. Centre: Daphne. Right: Reception design made from masonry waste for The Harrison, a converted warehouse in Shoreditch.
At this year's Clerkenwell Design Week, Spared unveiled new prototype tables, Alba, Mira and Daphne. Each has been developed from a distinct waste stream; Alba from chopping board waste from Nella Cutlery, Mira from FSC-certified timber and a composite tabletop sourced from Aylesbury Granulation Services, and Daphne, developed using birch plywood sawdust from CNC machining processes at Plykea in Hackney.
Moving forward, Spared's work remains grounded in one simple principle; to design with what already exists. In an Anthropocene age, this makes sense. As other materials get scarcer and scarcer, the sheer quantity of waste makes it an ideal and ethical choice. The studio is focused on developing processes to stabilise, bind and transform waste into usable, and most importantly, durable objects. This idea, reframing of waste as a resource, both practical and aesthetically valuable, is something we can all get behind.
