Studio Elk has designed a new concept for a work-from-home furniture subscription service with modularity and closed-loop material systems at its core.
According to the Water Roadmap Annual Report 2023, 1.2 million office desks and 1.8 million office chairs end up in landfill every year in the UK. Tony Elkington, founder of Studio Elk, believes this is partly due to the increased need for “work from home environments” due to “an increase in remote and hybrid working”.
Elkington says the need for “a professional office environment that fits the size constraints of home space and interior aesthetics” often translates into “significant upfront expenditures” for employers, plus “the logistical nightmare of managing delivery, maintenance and storage.” He believes that under existing models, office furniture is being thrown out and repurchased, “accelerating the rate of waste in traditionally long-lasting, durable product categories.”
Studio Elk’s solution, Koru, is built on a Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) business model and aims to meet the needs of “people, planet, profit.”
Flexibility and convenience
Elkington explains that the design meets “employees' needs for customization” and offers “flexibility and convenience for employers.” The desk frame is constructed from extruded aluminum with die-cast corners to accommodate a variety of desk sizes, while an attachment system allows for the addition of accessories such as cable trays, backboards, laptop stands, shelves and lights.
Elkington says that individual components are “easily removable and replaceable, reconfigurable, repairable and disassembled,” so the furniture can be modified to suit “space constraints, functional requirements and style preferences.” When considering the aesthetic qualities of the furniture, he says, the studio sought to balance “the practicality of office furniture with the softness of a home environment” through material, color choices and shape.
“Durable and family friendly”
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Elkington said Koll is “caring for the planet by encouraging reuse of furniture and material recovery to reduce waste,” and explained how Studio Elk chose “durable, family-friendly” materials for the closed-loop system: The desk and chair frames and accessories are made from recycled aluminum, the desktop is made from plywood, and the backs and leg pads are made from recycled felt.
Opting for felt pads instead of caster wheels on the chairs allowed them to reuse scraps of the backs, and Elkington says that in a home, chair wheels aren't as important. By minimizing the number of materials in the furniture, Studio Elk wanted to be able to “more easily manage the flow of materials through the system,” Elkington adds.
Elkington emphasizes that “durability is the key to longevity,” saying, “Investing in durable materials and sturdy construction is actually in Koru's best interest as a service provider.” This extends the life of the product and increases revenue over time. Koru furniture is designed to be repairable and disassembled, so individual parts can be replaced if necessary.
“Typically, cost and inconvenience are the biggest barriers to product repair,” Elkington said, adding that Koru creates a “frivolous repair experience” by making it easy to request repairs through its app and delivering replacement parts “directly to the user.” This also ensures that “damaged parts are picked up in the system for refurbishment or recycling,” he added.
“Monthly costs are predictable and there is no need for inventory management.”
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Studio Elk envisions that Koru's primary customers will be businesses with remote and hybrid workers, who will pay a monthly subscription fee per team member, with plans available at different price points and with different levels of setup specifications. Elkington says the system takes into account that “remote workers may need larger desks, more storage and built-in lighting,” while hybrid workers might only need “a minimal home setup for a few days a week.”
The monthly subscription avoids “the significant upfront costs associated with onboarding new employees,” and includes delivery and installation to employees' homes, according to Elkington. Giving companies the flexibility to “pay only for what they need” was key to the business model, he explained, as employers benefit from “a predictable monthly cost and zero inventory management” when the furniture is no longer needed.
Elkington describes the project as “more of a service story than physical furniture,” but recognizes that “for a circular business to be viable, it needs to benefit all parties in the value chain.” He hopes Koru will inspire brands to see sustainability as “a strategic advantage, not just a corporate responsibility,” and is eager to take the Koru concept to the next level “with the right partners.”