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This means designing for the future for your furniture
Are you ready for different furniture due to changing needs in the workplace? Then we have good news: new is not always better! Circular furniture is the future. Because Ahrend's design is as modular as possible, individual parts are easy to replace and reuse. A small adjustment can already lead to big results. Sustainability manager Dionne Ewen tells us more about these smart solutions – which are also good for the environment!
A second life through circular furniture
Ahrend is currently very much involved in reusing existing furniture. 'It concerns furniture that is on average 8 years old, but there are also outliers that have been around for 30 years,' says Dionne. In the case of reuse, new useful applications are sought for furniture. 'A desk becomes a conference table or a cupboard, a nice piece of furniture. It can be a functional or an aesthetic upgrade.' But, Dionne says, even though it is aesthetically pleasing to turn a pile of old carpet tiles into a seating element , as far as sustainability is concerned, it is not Ahrends' approach. 'By making such permanent changes, you often can't recycle parts later. That is why we build products modularly." This makes them easy to disassemble and parts can be easily replaced. 'We call that designing for the future.'
A glimpse into the converted future
A good example of designing for the future is the Ahrend 500, Ahrend's first modular circular furniture and fully recyclable desk. When this model first hit the market in 2002, it was a desk that couldn't be adjusted in height. Because the product was designed with the future in mind, the desk was later able to respond to the changing need for flexible sit-stand desks with a simple adjustment.
When designing for the future, modular construction is therefore the most important. 'You can respond more flexibly to changing office needs and even replace a part in 10 years' time. In the design phase, you therefore have to make good and well-considered choices. If you do something wrong there, it can remain a problem in the rest of the chain. An important task for the designers, in other words. With their knowledge and experience, they design furniture that is circular in all phases of the process – and will remain so in the future. 'Because that is what the principles of Cradle to Cradle are all about,' says Dionne. 'You want the product to be safe for the user in the long term: from the producer to the buyer, the reuser and the recycler. Toxic substances must not suddenly be released when stripping a cabinet.'
Ahrend Reuse
To get the most out of the reusability of raw materials and products, the Circular Hub was created. Dionne: 'The Circular Hub takes back existing products and gives them a new life by completely revitalising them.' The oldest example? 'That's the Ahrend 220 office chair. We introduced it in 1994 and we still sell it in a revitalized state," says Dionne. 'With Ahrend Reuse, we reduce ourCO2 footprint by up to 95%. That's a nice extra!'
