04 / Postgraduate project
The Off Cut Club
A circular service concept connecting London leather waste with hands-on design education in schools.
- Context
- Royal College of Art · Grand Challenge team project
- Discipline
- Circular Service Design
- My contribution
- Leather-waste ecosystem research, research into circularity and industry engagement, ideation and prototyping
- Output
- Waste-to-school service model and craft prototypes
01 / The challenge
Connect surplus material with a new use.
Leather offcuts retain material value, but their irregular shapes and fragmented supply make reuse difficult. The team explored how this waste stream could become a resource for school design education.
The service concept links industry surplus, material preparation and modular workshops, giving children an opportunity to learn through making.
02 / My contribution
Research the ecosystem before shaping the workshop.
I researched London leather waste and the leather-product ecosystem, investigated circularity and industry engagement, and contributed to ideation and prototyping.
The interdisciplinary team brought together service design, fashion, design products and textiles. This helped connect the material supply question with a practical classroom experience.
03 / Design decisions
Use modular making to work with irregular offcuts.
Physical experiments explored weaving, interlocking forms and functional objects. Instead of assuming a consistent sheet of material, the prototypes investigate ways to assemble smaller pieces.
The proposed service turns sourcing and preparation into part of a wider education model: schools receive a usable material resource and a workshop structure centred on design, sustainability and making.
Project details
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04 / Outcome
A proposed loop from factory to classroom.
The project produced a service model and a set of material and craft prototypes. Together, they demonstrate possible activities and reusable assembly approaches.
The service is at concept and prototype stage. The proposed next steps are school workshops, teacher feedback and iteration on the material and learning activities.
Contact
Based in London, United Kingdom
Full presentation
26 pages · Original project deck
The Offcut Lab — Original presentation
Explore the complete research, development and final designs.
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