At its new showroom in London, which opened during this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week, contemporary furniture brand Andreu World unveiled its latest collaboration with Benjamin Hubert, award-winning British designer and founder of the contemporary design studio LAYER. Hubert debuted a new collection at the Patricia Urquiola-designed retail space on September 18, in an event that coincided with the London Design Festival 2024, considered the UK’s biggest design showcase which aims to highlight the power of design to (re)imagine our world for the better. The collaboration marks Andreu World’s ongoing campaign towards “Manufacturing a Better World” by harnessing the creativity and resourcefulness of the design industry. With a focus on circular design, the brand hopes to underscore the urgency of rethinking how we design in an increasingly resource-deficit world, by collaborating with contemporary designers such as Patricia Urquiola, Philippe Starck, and Jasper Morrison among others.

Apart from the launch of Hubert’s new Calma Lounge collection with the furniture design brand, Andreu World’s programme at LDF included a dialogue between Hubert and STIR’s Features Editor, Anmol Ahuja. The conversation and subsequent demonstration of the Calma, Triada and Hula furniture collections by Hubert focused on the British designer’s guiding philosophy rooted in the circular economy and minimising waste and how that converges with Andreu World’s vision for sustainable design. The two spoke not only about the collections on display and how circularity manifests in product design and the industry in general; but also delved into the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders–including manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, etc–involved in the process of creating and disseminating products. “I’m a big believer in reducing the impact of a product by it being used for longer, as a result of it being timelessly formed. So you don’t keep buying more stuff. To me, this trumps any other facet of sustainability,” the industrial designer said about his approach and how that coincides with Andreu World’s tenets for a more conscious design industry.

To Hubert, everyone has a responsibility towards thinking more sustainably and he believes design can be a facilitator towards such a mindset. The London-based studio founded by him focuses on making the world better through design, a sentiment echoed by the Spain-based furniture brand’s motto. The studio’s latest collection the Calma Lounge embodies a vital concern with sustainability and longevity, comprising a line of reclining armchairs. The minimal design allows the chair to easily adapt to corporate and domestic spaces, thus ensuring multi-functionality and minimum wastage in manufacturing different iterations of a product. The chairs are specifically designed to ensure that they are comfortable for users with a 4-blade swivel aluminium base and synchronised reclining system ensuring optimal ergonomics in any position. “People are increasingly seeking comfort–both mental and physical–and this desire is what drives the design of the Calma Lounge,” Hubert shares.

Certified as Cradle to Cradle®, the chair design completely dispenses with the use of glue, which allows easy removal of the upholstery for washing or replacement. By ensuring the chair is largely maintenance free and can be disassembled at the end of its life cycle, the chair is also easily recyclable. The other two displayed collections, Triada and Hula, similarly adhere to notions of eco-conscious design through their choice of material and production.

Through its events and showcases at various design weeks, the only B-Corp-certified design brand in Europe hopes to inspire action from designers and stakeholders alike towards prioritising peoples’ well-being and health and an environmentally conscious design ethos. At the London Design Festival, a design event that seeks to platform creative design excellence through collaborations and insightful dialogue, Andreu World underscores that real change requires us not only to rethink how we design but also to reimagine processes of manufacturing and distribution of products globally.