Home design

The durable, resilient and elastic properties of tyre rubber open new design opportunities for products suited to both indoor and outdoor environments.

As interest in sustainable living grows, designers are aligning their work with consumers’ sustainability goals while maintaining high product quality. Widely available recycled tyre rubber reduces the need for new rubber production. Creators around the world are incorporating it into sustainable home products.

Minarc

Minarc, an award-winning design studio based in Santa Monica, USA, is renowned for its innovative design solutions, cutting-edge building techniques, and creative use of materials. Their creation, the ReFlow sink, exemplifies their dedication to simplicity, sustainability, and functionality. The sink features a rubber sheet partially made from recycled tyres, stretched over a base frame and securely anchored by the drain, creating a shallow sloped surface that efficiently disperses water. Choosing tyre rubber as a material was a deliberate decision for Minarc’s founders, Erla Dögg and Tryggvi Thorsteinsson. Recognising the significant waste generated by discarded tyres and the lack of proper recycling options, they sought innovative design solutions. The concept of stretching a rubber sheet over a base frame and anchoring it with the drain resonated with their design philosophy and aligned perfectly with their environmental goals. Minarc’s creation process has been a dynamic journey of exploration and refinement. They are continuously seeking ways to further develop and enhance the functionality of their products. This iterative approach ensures that their designs consistently meet the highest standards of innovation, sustainability, and practicality.

h220430 Design Studio

Rubber, with its extensive history across diverse fields, has historically seen limited progress in promoting the use of recycled materials. Addressing this challenge, design studio h220430 has innovated a stool crafted entirely from recycled tyre rubber. The stool boasts a minimalist structure formed by bending a single sheet of rubber and securing the legs with bolts. The rubber’s elasticity not only offers comfortable seating but also allows the stool to be conveniently rolled up for compact storage in small spaces. Another great property of the material that the design studio highlights is its durability.

Muubs

The innovative Danish interior design brand Muubs focuses on producing and showcasing elegant, unique, and sustainable designs made from raw, natural materials. In honour of Scandinavian design’s rustic language, Muubs created Dacarr by Muubs—a series of products crafted from 100% recycled truck, car, and bicycle tyres, giving these materials a completely new and different role in our lives, thereby extending their life cycle. Inspired by Japanese aesthetics, Muubs’ designers are dedicated to genuine craftsmanship, attention to detail, and durable design. They advocate for a minimalistic lifestyle centered around a few high-quality design pieces for the home that embody timeless, functional, and visually appealing design. Finding beauty in imperfection involves accepting and admiring the natural cycle of growth and decay while seeking life’s essential elements, explains a representative for Muubs’ designers, and adds that it is fascinating that items that have lived their lives for one purpose now gain a fundamentally transformed role in our lives.

Slash Objects

Slash Objects is the award-winning design studio founded by Arielle Assouline-Lichten from the belief that design has the power to change the world through the choices we make. The studio is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of conventional design and creating beautiful pieces that challenge people’s assumptions.

CAN

London-based architecture studio CAN stands behind the creation of Liquid Geology, a collection of tables that continues the practice’s experimental research into innovative material use in unexpected contexts. The series features dining, coffee, and side tables characterised by chunky, rubber-coated bases and slimline, steel-enamel tops. The steel is hand-cut and lightly bent to form a soft lip around the edge. The table tops are coated with rich blue, green, or orange enamel and fired in a kiln at 820 degrees Celsius before being hand-splattered in a contrasting tone and re-fired. The rough, craggy bases are coated in ’rubber rock,’ a unique material composition of recycled rubber chips and resin developed by CAN while researching alternative material uses in furniture production. Each base, varying in size and form, is hand-cast and coated in deep gloss paint to enhance the texture. Liquid Geology is the culmination of research into underutilised materials to create hyperreal spaces and products. The distorted scale of the super-thin steel on chunky bases hints at viewing the tables through a watery lens or as a cross-section of a mountainous lake.

Eline van Dijkman

As a product designer, Eline van Dijkman’s passion for experimenting with new materials to create functional and sustainable products is evident. Her journey began with a fascination for industrial materials and a desire to address waste streams, which led her to the vast mountains of discarded rubber tyres at DRI Rubber in the Netherlands. Intrigued by the unique properties of rubber, she embarked on a mission to explore its potential.

UpcycleMo

Creating, inventing, and recycling have been integral parts of the founder Mohamed Khattou’s life since childhood. Using materials like old bicycle tyres, plastic bottles, and pieces of wood, Mohammed crafted toys and everyday objects. Reflecting on these experiences, he developed a deep conviction that this was the beginning of his calling: a love for nature and recycling ingenuity. His path shifted when he collaborated with an interior designer, specialising in decoration and design. This partnership fueled his passion, leading to the creation of UpcycleMo and transforming tyres into trendy items.

Carolyn Butts

Carolyn Butts, an art and design visionary, founded her eponymous company in 2005, alongside designer Hans Honegger. The pivotal moment for Butts’ journey occurred in 1989, following Canada’s infamous Hagersville tyre fire. The event left an indelible mark on Butts, who was profoundly affected by the sight of uncontrolled smoke billowing from 14 million burning tyres over a 17-day period. The environmental impact, particularly near the Six Nations Reserve, spurred Butts into action, igniting her passion for addressing waste management challenges through innovative design solutions. This profound experience served as the catalyst for Butts’ pioneering work in repurposing discarded materials, a journey that continues to evolve as she explores the inherent value of waste. Reflecting on her inspiration, Butts recalls that around the time of the fire, she had purchased a used car and discovered the tyres needed changing. After replacing them, she found herself compelled to research the properties of rubber material to explore its potential as a design medium.

KALO Design Studio

The award-winning designer, architect, and researcher Ammar Kalo describes his work as “interrogating the relationship between digital technology and traditional craft”. From large-scale spatial design projects to small-scale pieces, his creations consistently aim to facilitate a dialogue between materiality and form through meticulous attention to detail. His work has been recognised with multiple international and local awards. Kalo is also an associate professor, where his research and teaching focus on robotic fabrication, furniture design, and design-build courses. Ammar Kalo’s research interests include developing design and fabrication projects that explore the inextricable links between materials, fabrication tools, and form-making. He combines this specialisation with his own creative flair to produce the Fikra Tables and Macaron Seats – two design series that utilise recycled tyre rubber.

EcoRub

By mixing rubber powder from recycled tyres and HD-PE plastic with a so-called co-polymer, the materials bind in both directions, meaning the rubber particle and plastic particle come together. This enables subsequent injection moulding, casting, extrusion, and the development of filament for 3D-printing. Experimenting with the content allows for different blends to be created, resulting in materials with varying hardness and durability. It is also possible to grind the material again, allowing for adjustments to its properties. For example, to increase flexibility, more rubber can be added, while more plastic produces a harder product. It is also possible to colour the material. Despite the manufacturing process being relatively slow, it is highly specialised and effective. The applications for 3D-printing range from consumer products to industrial components.

Neutra Atelier

Under a special scholarship in Canada in 2001, Elanit Neutra embarked on a transformative journey into global awareness and sustainability. It was during this time that her passion for environmentally conscious design began to take root. Inspired by her surroundings and driven by the need for innovative solutions, Elanit ventured into fashion accessory production. Elanit Neutra is a versatile designer renowned for her signature brand, Neutra Atelier, which offers a diverse range of urban-industrial handbags, household goods, notebooks, office supplies, furniture, jewellery, and more. Each meticulously crafted piece stands as a testament to Elanit’s dedication to sustainable design and her innovative spirit.

Retyred

Retyred presents a distinctive line of furniture crafted from discarded tyres, a continuously renewable source. Their collection blends experience and innovation, integrating durability with comfort to create standout pieces that redefine the concept of furniture of character. Founders Monica Corser and Bernie Kudernatsch began their journey after encountering simple yet comfortable chairs made from old tyres during a trip to Bali. Inspired by this discovery, they joined forces to establish Retyred, dedicating themselves to refining production techniques and expanding their range of designs.

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