BA Rycotewood Furniture Centre, Oxford Brookes University

New furniture from discarded bedrooms
 
“I have a whole new take on upcycling,” says Christoph, an accomplished craftsman, who was born and raised in Austria. He has sleek modern designs for stools and a storage tower which he can make in quantity from bedroom furniture salvaged from the renovation of three halls of residence at his Oxford Brookes University. The contents of 250 student bedrooms were on their way to the tip. “My aim is repair and repurpose, and I saw this waste as inspiration - and a massive resource.” It has yielded an identical kit of parts, making upcycling possible on a large scale. Stools are precision made from curved wooden bed frames, with eight traditional timber joints. Storage towers are built from old drawers. All furniture is hand-sanded to a silky smooth finish. “I wanted to up the image of upcyling, and steer all designers towards adaptive reuse.”