Designers for companies including Muji and Habitat have been persuaded to work outside their usual fashionable milieu by the Furniture for the Future scheme created by the Design Council and the DfES.
The project was inspired by a Design Council report showing that most of the pound;1 billion spent on school furniture was used to buy uninspiring and poorly designed products.
To kick-start the market, more than 60 teams of designers worked with manufacturers to re-fashion classroom furniture and update the tired image of the traditional school. Three successful teams were given pound;20,000 each to put their ideas into production and the prototypes will be exhibited at the show.
Husband and wife team Azumi, whose creations can usually be found in Muji stores, have designed an all-in-one swivel chair, table and storage hook.
Habitat’s head furniture designers Matthew Hilton and Jorge Quarta have created a silver-finish adjustable table for primary schools.
Up-and-coming designers William Warren and Carl Clerkin have produced a multi-purpose design and technology bench (pictured).
Stand C68
