Oxide Collection

Design Ideation
The process started with digital ideation, my preferred process, which involves creating the objects in a 3D modelling program. This helps me quickly explore different designs and immediately see changes as I implement them. It also allows me to view a collection as a whole, to address any incosistencies across the aesthetics of the group. I already had in mind some materials I was keen to work with and some construction techniques I wanted to explore, which is where my ideas for new designs usually stem from, so this gave me a good starting point.

Preparation + Planning
After settling on a collection and sending the Craft Victoria team an indicative render I can begin the preparation work. I manufacture entirely in Australia (where possible), and this is by far the longest part of the process. Fine-tuning construction processes, designing fixtures, creation of jigs, and prototyping.

At this stage I talk to my metal manufacturers about feasibility and adjust the designs accordingly. I take advantage of how drawn out this stage can be to also begin transforming some of the raw materials into the components needed for my designs, like creating the stains from metal waste and making test swatches of the handmade textiles.

Making
Once the metal parts start coming from manufacturers, I can start the hand work. Timber work, timber staining, timber finishing, metal polishing, metal waxing, cord weaving, latex cutting, leatherwork, hand-tacking, upholstery, textile forming + electrical wiring.

I created 10 pieces across furniture, decorative objects, lighting and storage which explore the potential of repurposing discarded resources. The collection addresses harmful logging practices, metal waste, textile waste, food waste, substitutes for upholstery foams, alternative leathers, and every piece can be easily deconstructed into base components for repair, repurposing or recycling.

Good design balances aesthetics with utility and longevity. I think for a long time form follows function has been the mantra of the wider design community, but I think maybe form complements function provides a more accurate assessment of what I think good design entails.

User experience is more than just the functional aspects of a furniture piece, emotion is an important component of how we interact with objects we own; more subtle considerations like texture, material juxtaposition and weight can influence how objects make us feel. Each piece in this collection is designed for tactile engagement, intuitive use, and spatial versatility.

Materials were chosen not only for their environmental benefit but also for their textural richness and visual impact, inviting users to interact with the pieces and consider where the materials come from, and how the objects are made. Examples of this include the exaggerated weld lines on the side table, the small casting marks on the candlesticks, and the large scar in the timber coffee table top.

By connecting users to the process, we allow people to consider more wholistcally where the objects they use come from, and how they are created, without compromising on quality. All components are built to be disassembled and repaired. Mechanical fixings replace glues and permanent bonds, ensuring that each material can be recycled or repurposed at end of life.

The goal of the project was to invite users to see waste not as limitation, but as material with value and potential.

Repurposing Industry Waste
Waste is a big problem in design. The most prominent struggle most sustainably-minded object designers have is grappling with an income that comes from creating more things for an already full world. I think the solution to this is to make sure that what we add to the world is worth making, improves on what is already available, and uses the resources we already have.

Novel Material Use
There are accepted parts of furniture design which are inherently unsustainable in nature, like the use of plastic-foams and animal-leathers; these products provide such good functionality that the majority of people are willing to look past their environmental impact. Its not that there arent good alternatives available, its that theres also terrible alternatives available that get more focus because of their historical use (like, in this example, metal springs and plastic vinyl).

This collection explores the application of sustainable alternatives like sap-latex foam and cactus leather to furniture design, which have found some footing in adjacent industries but are still overlooked when it comes to upholstery. The combination of old techniques like woven paper cord and reactive stains, which have long since been replaced by oil-derived alternatives, in combination with newer plant based technologies provide an innovative solution to some of the sustainability issues currently faced by the industry.

Deconstruction
Treating an object as bespoke and singular, rather than as a collection of parts, creates inflexible design. If instead we design an object with future material use in mind, its assemblage of parts becomes just one moment in a longer material life cycle. By utilising established production pathways, universal fixtures, and deconstructible design, an object is no longer the end-point but part of an ongoing process, where every component carries both a history and potential for reuse or transformation.

As a design response rooted in Victorian industry and context, Oxide sets a benchmark for integrating sustainability, local manufacturing and conceptual integrity. It demonstrates that circular design can be both rigorous and beautiful.

In doing so, it reframes how we consider the lifecycle of interior objects, offering a new model for how material reuse can drive aesthetic innovation, responsible production and enduring design outcomes both in Victoria and beyond. Every component is 100% reyclable and/or biodegradeable.

All the metals used require less energy to recycle than to creat new, and experience zero loss during this process. The leathers, foams and wadding are plant based. The cord is undyed paper, the lamp shade is textile waste. The stains are made from metal waste and the timber is sourced from a now defunct logging operation.

Every component other than the cactus leather and the sap-latex (both created from non-native plants) is sourced, manufactured and designed in Victoria, Australia. Manufacturing locally has allowed me to maintain full transparency around production pathways and workers rights, and support Victorian industry.

Presented at Craft Victoria for Melbourne Design Week, the collection has been used to explore (and communicate globally) how good design in Victoria is being used to produce beautiful handmade designer objects with minimal impact on the environment.

The entire collection is designed around deconstruction, circularity and potential solutions for unsustainable practices and industry waste; including from my own practice. The leather used in this collection is created from the nopal ‘prickly pear’ cactus, a by-product of the food processing industry in Guadalajara, Mexico. Prickly pear is classed as one of the worst national weeds of significance in Australia and is incredibly invasive; the current management technique is incineration, but it doesnt have to be.

The timber for this exhibition is Victorian Ash, sourced from the remaining stock from the failed and extremely damaging VicForests native logging operation. Instead of oil-based stains, the timber is stained with an iron-oxide solution created using metal scraps from my workshop.

For all the upholstery, instead of oil-derived upholstery foams, glues and dacron, I’ve used 100% natural rubber latex foam made from tree sap, a renewable resource which if correctly managed can be harvested from mature trees indefinitely. This is then wrapped in recycled cotton wadding to create a sustainable cushion inner.

The shade for the table lamp uses a process of flocking, shredding and forming recycled textile fibers to create a ‘paper’ lampshade. This shade is created from old white cotton and linen sheets, which have been torn down to fibers, combined with starch and meticulously moulded over a steel mesh guide to create a three-dimensional form devoid of seamlines. The fabric shade has then been hardened with recycled candle wax.

Each work in the series is fully deconstructable, using removable mechanical fixings rather than adhesives or permanent bonds; for repair or recycling. All the metals used are sourced from local manufacturers and are fully circular and 100% recyclable; the candlesticks are cast from aluminium waste. The undyed paper cord is manufactured in Camberwell, and the glass is made in Coburg.