Swedese and Louise Hederström wanted to proactively promote sustainability within the furniture industry. This led to an innovative collaboration with Skanska at Hyllie Terrace, where waste became an opportunity. On construction sites, large amounts of material are used during the building process and often end up being discarded. By viewing this waste as a valuable resource and repurposing joists and board materials, a range of different furniture pieces were produced. In addition to construction waste, materials that had been sorted out during various production processes—what we refer to as industrial waste—were also used.
The sofa is designed to offer the highest quality in both comfort and form. Swedese calls it “upcycled elegance”—where sustainability meets beauty. By using discarded materials, it challenges the conventional ideals of beauty and the standards that dominate the furniture industry, questioning what is considered “perfect.” Instead, it highlights genuine materials with traces of life. Used Swedish pine beams and plywood are transformed into something that will last for generations, rather than being burned. Additionally, by using alternatives to foam as padding, the use of oil-based materials has been minimized.
The seams are designed to maximize the use of hides, as well as for aesthetic reasons. Elmothentic leather is a completely natural, unaltered aniline leather that retains more of its original qualities than usual. This leather is a sustainable alternative that gains value, which it previously lacked due to market demands and ignorance. Thanks to this project, it is now a product available for order through Elmo.
Hyllie Terrace, completed in 2023, is Skanska’s first climate-neutral project and is one of the few projects in Sweden that is part of the Sweden Green Building Council’s certification.
The Hyllie Sofa has been further developed and is now available for professional projects through Swedese.
2023
Swedese
Interior pictures by Petra Bindel
