Brunel University London Launches Smart Sofa Design for Efficient Space Management
The awkwardness of moving a sofa and fitting it into a new home is something that many of us can relate to. We all remember the classic scene from Friends when Ross Geller tries his level best to carry a new couch up a flight of stairs into his apartment. He repeatedly shouts the word ‘pivot’ to Rachel and Chandler as they all struggle to handle the bulging three-seater.
STRUNG would have been a game changer for the friends. It’s a lightweight, collapsible sofa that allows users to easily adjust its size. A triple seater can swiftly become a double sofa or a single lounge chair, adapting to space and improving manoeuvrability.
The sofa operates entirely without fixtures and gets its name from the exposed rope on the side of the frame. It’s held together by tension, which allows for easy assembly and disassembly, with movable seat panels that fold compactly enough to fit into the boot of a car.
Casper Bosinius, a final-year Product Design Engineering BSc student from Brunel University London, is the creative force behind STRUNG, which he designed as part of his final-year design project and the 2024 Made in Brunel exhibition.
It was while living in a shared flat in central London that the 22-year-old from Bonn, Germany, was inspired to create the sofa, after noticing how people in urban areas were fly-tipping their furniture when they relocated to different properties.
“STRUNG is tailored to urban renters to tackle the challenges of frequent relocation and excessive waste,” said Casper. “I wanted to enable users to retain their furniture, even if they have to move every year, and STRUNG aims to make it easier for renters to furnish their space without having to worry about where they may be living in a year or how they are going to get it there.”
In a cost-of-living crisis, Casper acknowledges the economic benefits of STRUNG. “Economically, STRUNG reduces both the initial cost of a sofa and the overall expenses associated with moving and buying new furniture,” he said. “Users can adjust the sofa’s size by swapping out the seat bases, offering significant savings and facilitating easy and cost-effective transportation.”
Users could purchase or rent different lengths of seat panels, from 1m wide (single seat) to 1.8m wide (three seater), allowing them to reuse the product by changing just one component.
As part of his research, Casper discovered that moving to a new property causes 20% of all furniture disposals, which mostly end up in landfills due to recycling difficulties. He explains how frequent moves can discourage investment in quality furnishings and lead to buy-to-waste consumption patterns.
“On many occasions, I have seen usable furniture on the street, which I have picked up for myself,” he said. “STRUNG minimises waste and enhances sustainability by increasing the furniture’s longevity and adaptability, while also reducing the need for frequent replacements.”
Casper used PET felt for the seat panels – a lightweight material made from recycled water bottles – which enhances the sofa’s sustainability and reduces its weight. The birch plywood frame has discreet aluminium feet, and the product is fire retardant.
The budding entrepreneur believes that STRUNG could be a true game changer for urban spaces and renters and hopes that it influences other projects and designers to focus on renter-specific furniture.
“STRUNG presents a fun, adaptable solution that boosts sustainability and enhances renter wellbeing, while merging design flair with practicality,” he said. “I am hoping to get fabric manufacturers on board and would also like to see collaborations with fashion designers, offering new cushion covers, and allowing the product to adapt to contemporary styles while staying with the user.”
“My ultimate goal would be to offer STRUNG to buy and rent on apps like Deliveroo, making sustainable furniture as easy and frictionless as ordering a McDonald’s.”
STRUNG, along with a host of other innovative new products designed by Brunel’s final-year design students, will be on display at the free Made in Brunel exhibition, which returns to the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London, from 13–16 June.
Visitors to the exhibition can also collect a complimentary copy of the 2024 Made in Brunel book, which showcases all the work of the 2024 Made in Brunel designers.