mu

Sustainable furniture from industrial byproducts

Problem

The demand for home goods and furniture is on the rise while the availability of the raw materials to make these goods is diminishing and putting a toll on the environment

Younger generations including millennials and gen z have a desire to help the environment, but not at the cost of practicality and convenience

Moodboard

Coffee Table Ideation

For the first round of ideation, we chose to focus on designing a coffee table that could be assembled by slotting the components together without requiring additional fasteners. We also played with modular concepts and tables with built-in storage.

We chose to continue to develop designs that incorporated storage, easy slotting assembly, and opportunity for multiple materials

Table Lamp Ideation

Final Sketches

Murge Coffee Table

ION Table Lamps

Sustainability

Environmental Considerations

- Use of responsibly sourced renewable resources - Locally sourced materials
- Production waste
- Packaging
- Furniture longevity/ durability
- Post-consumer recycling

“We absolutely believe that consumers connect their passion for transparency with their loyalty to the companies they choose to shop. For instance a Nielsen report found that 73% of global millennials will pay more for a product that is sustainable.”

— Keith Knopf to Forbs

Materials

MU’s furniture is made from predominantly up-cycled materials made from industrial industry byproducts, reducing the demand for raw materials and creating use for materials that would otherwise be waste.

Made from 100% dried and pressed cattle blood. Blood plastic is extruded and cut into plastic pellets and then injection molded to form the base of the lamp.

Formed from a mixture of synthetic marble and crushed oyster shells. The marble slabs are then water jet cut to size to form one of the four table top options.

Made from milk protein and other raw natural materials, when combined with wool a soft low density felt is created. The felt is die cut into small circular feet and adhered to the bottom of the table legs to prevent the furniture from scratching floors.

Made from recycled glass bottles. The glass bottles are transformed into granules which are then sintered, cooled and cut to the correct size. This forms one of the four table top options as well as, the center piece for the lamp.

Created using mixture of cow dung, straw, farm waste and tuscan clay. The merdacotta is then slipcast to form the top portion of the lamp, which is coated with a transparent glaze baked at 1000 degrees celsius.

Utilizes waste material from the coffee industry. Coffee grounds are transformed into sheet material or granules. To form the table top, coffee based material sheets are vacuum formed in two halves and adhered to MDF.

To make Cocoa Marmoleum, cocoa husks are combined with marmoleum to create a product that consists of 97% renewable raw materials. The Cocoa Marmoleum is cut to size and adhered to MDF to create one of the four table options.

Utilizes fly ash, a byproduct of the coal industry, is used as a binder to create a concrete. From ash is poured into molds to form the base of the table.

Convenience

MU Furniture is made to be easily repeatedly assembled and unassembled without any additional tools to allow users to have not only a more seamless initial set up experience, but also ease in future moves.

MU also supports refurbishments and post-consumer recycling in which users can send back furniture for repair or responsible material recycling for no additional cost

Experience

simply wave hand over lamp to turn on and adjust intensity and tap side to change light color temperature

MU furniture is made with the users’ daily lives and behaviors in mind to create an exciting experience, not only when initially purchased but long into ownership. We do this by making the objects tactile, such an in the usability of the Ion Lamp line, and accommodating, such as in the subsurface storage in the Murge Coffee Table

Packaging