Opened in January 2013, The Living Furniture Project has recently produced it’s first collection of contemporary furniture, featuring work from top designer-makers like Nic Parnell and Donna Walker. The pieces have been hand-made in a Brick Lane workshop by homeless Londoners, assisted by volunteer furniture makers and the designers themselves. They are available for sale, although the studio works mainly to bespoke commission.
Through the creation of contemporary luxury furniture, with a strong focus on design-led quality, the social enterprise hopes to create a sustainable business model to employ homeless individuals across the capital, teach skills and rebuild lives.
The brief for the first collection was to create pieces around the theme Emerald – a colour which has been big for 2013 and which for The Living Furniture Project holds an emotional significance – it represents new beginnings and Spring freshness.
The project has taken on two homeless Apprentices since launching in January 2013, and is taking on two more in May. The aim is to employ ten Apprentices by the end of the year. Apprentices will stay with the company for up to six months and are then helped with finding a job elsewhere in the furniture industry.
