2024.03.15
Vestre launches new outdoor collection with Note Design Studio and declares environmental impact on all furniture
VESTRE LAUNCHES NEW OUTDOOR COLLECTION
WITH NOTE DESIGN STUDIO AND DECLARES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON ALL FURNITURE
DESIGN
Norwegian furniture company Vestre has launched a series of urban outdoor furniture designed by Note Design Studio. The collection Plinth which consists of outdoor bench and table, is made with the Vestre’s strong sustainable philosophy in mind. New for this year is that Vestre has marked all furniture with EDP (Environmental Product Declaration) – which makes the environmental impact of each product visible all the way from material selection to finished product. The Plinth collection comes semi-assembled which has the benefits of being shipped smart and assembled at site easily. In case any of the parts should be damaged it can easily be dismounted and replaced - to give it as long life as possible. ”When our concept was defined we knew that it had the possibility to be a big collection and that it was important to be smart when developing the designs in therms of material choices, production and shipping,” says Charlotte Ackemar, product designer at Note Design. ”By creating a flexible collection with few components that can be used for all designs we where able to get as much as possible out of the concept.”
VESTRE
Vestre is a Norwegian manufacturer of urban furniture. Nine years ago, it became the first climate-neutral outdoor furniture manufacturer in the world, and has set the target of zero climate gas emissions. Between 2014 and 2016, the company cut its CO2 emissions by nearly 40% in relation to production value.
WORDS
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jonna Dagliden Hunt
Carl Engberg, Stavfel Produktion
Vestre's timber is impregnated with natural linseed oil which offers lasting protection against rot and virtually maintenance-free use. After some time outdoors, the surface will develop a grey patina. Owing to the cold climate the trees grow slowly and can only be felled after 80–120 years. This means that Scandinavian pine is harder and more suitable for outdoor furniture than pine from warmer areas, which generally grows 3–5 times faster.
TNE Describe your collaboration with Vestre!
CA “Collaborating with a company like Vestre means having the opportunity to explore and research new possibilities. Projects arise from discussions and questions, since our first work with Vestre, when we created the installations for the Stockholm fair, we always had the feeling of being able to discuss outside the specific project. This freedom has led us to discuss more and more extensive topics, giving us the opportunity to see further meeting points and ideas between our studio and the Vestre company. With Plinth we extend our collaboration and mutual trust, a trust that goes beyond the company-designer relationship. For our part, working with fantastic people like Jan Christian, Sofie or Allan is a stimulus and also the confirmation of doing one of the most beautiful jobs in the world.”
TNE What is the essence of Plinth?
CA ”It is is a result of an investigation on how we interact with outdoor space across different climates and cultures. As we found the concept of picnic very intriguing, we wanted to examine in detail the social role that the concept of a picnic table plays across cultures, considering issues such as what picnicking means to people in different societies, how they use outdoor furniture, how they socialise outdoors, and how factors such as climate and weather influence these behaviours. We realised that the way people interact with public furniture outdoors is very different to their indoor behaviours. Inside, the unwritten rules of furniture function tend to be stringently observed, whereas outdoors, people are more inclined to use furniture more freely – sitting, stretching, exercising, working, eating, sleeping, playing, standing, leaning, or lying down as the need arises.”
TNE How do you make outdoor furniture both durable, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing?
CA ”We believe that to work sustainably is not a choice anymore, which we realised a couple of years ago. However the fact that this is an outdoor furniture that has to be durable and able to withstand all sorts of weather, was something new to cope with. It has been a learning journey for us with an interesting process and a great outcome.”
All steel components are hot-dip galvanised in a bath of liquid zinc at 450°C. Vestre uses Norwegian zinc with 98.98% purity. This process produces an anti-rust coating that enables our products to remain outdoors for several decades. It is carried out in accordance with the strict environmental requirements defined in ISO 1461. If the surface is damaged, hot-dip products repair themselves by shrinking the zinc and forming a new coating in the damaged area. This is called cathodic protection.
”We believe that to work sustainably is not a choice anymore, which we realised a couple of years ago. The fact that this is an outdoor furniture that has to be durable and able to withstand all sorts of weather, was something new to cope with. It has been a learning journey for us with an interesting process and a great outcome.”
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