Azure: Studio Elk

Published in Azure magazine, March/April 2024 issue. Excerpt below (read the full article here).

“Furniture waste is a significant issue that will only worsen as new modes of working drive shorter-term demands for office equipment,” says Tony Elkington, founder of London-based, sustainably focused industrial design firm Studio Elk. Having observed overconsumption of home office furniture in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, his team ruminated on how to prevent more desks and chairs from entering U.K. landfills. Its solution, still in the concept phase, is a subscription based system that essentially leases out furniture, recovers pieces or parts when they’re damaged or no longer in use, and redistributes or recycles them.

Both the concept and the Studio Elk designed furniture line intended for use with this program are called Koru. The system comprises desks, accessories and chairs that are minimal yet handsome enough to suit both business- and home-office settings. In keeping with the brand’s ethos, the components are mainly made from recycled or recyclable materials — including aluminum frames and accessories in three different finishes, and wool felt for backboards and feet pads — and are detachable and replaceable. While the plywood used for desktops is not easily recycled, the studio’s ambition is to repurpose as much as
possible by, for example, making chair backs from a desktop that has localized damage.