Sustainable furniture born from coffee waste

Emerging from the themes of regenerative materials and ecological design, the Unsleepy series by CHanhyeok Kim looks at the afterlife of waste, specifically that of spent coffee grounds, and reconfigures it into functional, sculptural forms. The Korean designer’s collection offers a radical reflection on the pressing issues of waste management and sustainability, drawing attention to overlooked materials through expressive surface design in furniture.

The collection is composed of two stools and four chair designs, all unified through the same material language, which CHanhyeok Kim refers to as coffee dough. This substance is made from a mixture of coffee ground waste and architectural binders like plaster or clay, creating a pliable, dough-like consistency. It is then applied onto a paper mold which creates the object’s shape, and left to dry and crack organically, so that no two pieces will ever be identical.

This process gives the furniture its characteristic texture, which is then either coated with paint or left natural. In embracing the irregularity of the cracks that derive from the process, Kim also invites us to reconsider how we understand the lifecycle of furniture, as a being in flux instead of unchanging.

The project’s material choice is not incidental but deeply tied to CHanhyeok Kim’s origins, as Korea is also dubbed as the ‘Republic of Coffee’, due to it being the second country in the world by caffeine consumption. Importing more than 200,000 tons of coffee beans a year, coffee ground waste might be an infinite material resource, according to the designer – especially because 99.8% of the grounds are discarded after making the coffee.

In this context, Kim’s work becomes more than an aesthetic proposition, but a direct engagement with Korea’s consumption habits and a speculative approach to material reuse.

The Unsleepy products are defined by what the designer calls a ‘Meju’ texture, reminiscent of the traditional Korean brick made from fermented soybeans, used in the preparation of doenjang and gochujang. The food and the chairs share the same cracked surface, which highlights the natural origins that both materials share. By grounding both the material sourcing as well as the visual language of the collection in Korean references, Kim situates Unsleepy as a deeply site-responsive design, resisting the trends of globalisation.

The sculptural language of the pieces also nods to Korean habits, through the low seating and minimal backrests. Local-based approaches not only reduce ecological impact by recognising what is already available, but also revitalise cultural narratives that are often sidelined in the rush to innovation.

Through Unsleepy, Kim invites us to reconsider the value of the discarded. Rather than hiding the unattractive origins of the material, he highlights its imperfections and unpredictability. The furniture collection becomes a site of tension between the cleanliness and perfection of design and the inefficiencies of the real world.

It does not seek to replicate conventional industrial processes, but develops a new one constructed specifically for its material base, rooted in locality. Using materials as a starting point in design allows for unexplored paths to be pursued for the first time, looking at a more eccentric and deliberate future for the field.