CLIVE Stools
Oxford Brookes University
Old student beds get new lease of life as part of large accommodation refurbishment
In 2022, as part of a large refurbishment project at Oxford Brookes University, five housing blocks were demolished, and the contents of 250 student bedrooms were deemed waste. What initially seemed like a huge amount of perfectly good material waiting to be sent to landfill, was turned around into a circular story with the involvement of Christoph Studio.
The uniformity of the furniture across the student rooms proved to be an advantage in this case. With identical items in each room, the materials were predictable in terms of dimensions, appearance, and quality and allowed for a reliable and consistent pool of resources to work with.
After initial studying of the materials available and creating a whole range of prototypes for review with university staff, Christoph Studio was commissioned to create new seating for the main campus and for the newly built student accommodations.
Re-using the beautifully curved and laminated bed leg components, led to the design of a stackable, light-weight yet sturdy stool, dubbed the CLIVE stool named after the student accommodation Clive Booth student village.
Using sharp rotary blades to remove old lacquer and stains from the materials reveals the fresh layer of beautiful Beech wood underneath, which is then sanded and re-finished with a natural hard wax oil. The joinery used to connect all components is called a Mortice and Tenon and is a highly rigid joinery method, to endure the everyday impact of student use and abuse.
“It has been amazing to see our old student beds getting saved and cleverly reused for new stools. This is effective and impactful. Working with Christoph has been a joy and seeing his drive to make refurbishment projects environmentally friendlier is extremely well received amongst students and staff. ”
