Innovative Furniture made out of Recycled Parachute Material

FDT Bureau

Benjamin Hubert of the experience design agency Layer and design company Raeburn have collaborated on the Canopy Collection. This innovative furniture line features recycled parachute material and welded steel frames. The collection includes four rocking chairs and two screens suitable for both commercial and domestic use. The frames have been prototyped and manufactured in the UK by leading furniture manufacturer Allermuir. Know more about it on FURNITURE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY (FDT).

The collection made its debut at Raeburn’s new Central London store during the London Design Festival. The Canopy Collection is the result of close collaboration between Layer and Raeburn, celebrating innovative thinking from industrial design and fashion worlds. Both studios share a passion for sustainable design and recontextualizing undervalued materials. This limited edition collection consists of four rocking chairs and two screens with welded steel frames and recycled parachute upholstery. The steel structures provide a minimalist backdrop, allowing the parachute material to be the focal point. The fabric is wrapped, slung and hung within the frames to create padding, webbing and cover solutions with simple fixation points.

Throughout the design process, Layer and Raeburn explored surplus parachutes’ potential for furniture design, focusing on their unique structure, translucency and tactility. The Canopy Collection experiments with recycled parachute upholstery on the strict geometry of steel frames. Each rocking chair showcases different qualities of the parachute material, from controlled to raw expressions. The screens manipulate light through translucent parachute material, with designs inspired by the parachutes’ structure and stitch lines. They are versatile statement pieces suitable for various settings, including domestic, retail and hospitality.

Image credit: Layer and Raeburn