Bameo
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
Bameo offers modular, modern bamboo furniture.
Raw bamboo has incredible mechanical and sustainability potential. We want to increase its use by modernizing it, thanks to our unique connection system which makes the use of bamboo simpler, more modern and more flexible than ever. We collaborate with designers to conceive furniture based on this system.
European bamboo production is taking off and Bameo's role in this flourishing economy is to move from stem to furniture.
Geographical Scope
Project Region
Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Description of the project
Summary
Bameo develops and will soon market modular furniture made of bamboo stems. Our goal is to help move towards a greener economy, by increasing the use of bamboo in Europe. For that, we developed an innovative connection system to modernize people's perception of bamboo and facilitate its structural use. We collaborate with designers who use our system to create unique furniture.
Bamboo has impressive environmental and structural performance. It is twice as strong as wood, yields more material per area than the average forest, and can be used for structural applications with very little processing. Therefore, bamboo has a lot of potential to help wood meet the growing demand for more sustainable structural materials in Europe. The first European bamboo plantations for structural purposes are launched today.
The structural use of bamboo in Europe is currently hampered by the lack of suitable connection systems, which do not require any specific knowledge of the material, which is standardized and with attractive aesthetics for the European public. That is why we have developed a connection system that standardizes and modernizes the use of bamboo canes for furniture. Our system is very easy to assemble and disassemble, which makes it possible to create modular furniture, which are therefore adaptable, transportable, and easily repairable.
So far, we have worked on prototypes and we have discussed with many experts in the different fields related to the project to evaluate the best plan to realize our idea. We will start the commercialisation with a crowdfunding campaign in the spring 2022, during which we will offer three pieces of furniture in presale. The objective is to validate the attractiveness of our products. If this first step is conclusive, we will develop our Bameo furniture brand further. Then, we will continue the R&D on the system, for larger scale applications, such as temporary event structures, scaffolding or emergency structure.
Key objectives for sustainability
We want to stimulate the use of bamboo in Europe. Why?
- A bamboo grove produces up to 4 times more material per year than an average forest, reducing the area of exploited land needed for the same production by 4.
- Bamboo canes can be used almost without any transformation, thanks to their tubular shape which makes them naturally structurally efficient. This reduces the expenditure of energy as well as the production of waste during production by 5 compared to usual alternatives.
- Bamboo fibres are twice as strong as the average wooden fibres.
- Bamboo could be produced on a large scale in Europe. At the moment, the production is still very limited, but this will soon change as many projects are launched now.
We are in contact with two projects which have the ambition to plant thousands of Ha of bamboo plantations in Europe (they already planted hundreds of Ha). We hope to source 100% of our bamboo from the EU within 5 years. Thereby, we will support the development of European bamboo plantations, which are at the basis of a flourishing European bamboo economy.
The other materials making up our furniture ((PA11 (bio-based nylon) and aluminium for the first collection) are also all 100% recyclable and durable over time.
Another feature which makes our furniture sustainable is our connection system. It makes it easy to assemble and disassemble our furniture. This increases the lifespan of our furniture, as it is more versatile. Instead of throwing and buying back, you can adapt, move, or repair the furniture more easily. If one component breaks, you can easily replace it by a spare part. The components are all made of a single material, which allows them to be easily recycled at the end of the life cycle of the furniture piece.
The company is based on a pillar of values, among which sustainability, which guide the whole project. Therefore, all our choices are and will be made with this in mind, for example in terms of packaging, logistics, marketing, etc.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Bameo reconnects brutality and modernity - nature and innovation. Bamboo retains its natural state and is associated with innovative materials and techniques. It changes people's perception of it, from an exotic material good for small decorative items, to a plant with impressive potential in terms of design and sustainability. Our system makes it possible to insert raw bamboo, with all its imperfections which give it its character, in a modern context. The precision of the cutouts and the connecting pieces allows the bamboo canes, spine of our furniture, to bring linearity and elegance to our designs. Bamboo is no longer a simple weed but becomes the element that sets the design of our furniture apart.
We are currently collaborating with designers to materialize our vision into functional pieces of furniture, with a unique design. We are fortunate to work with Pierre-Emmanuel Vandeputte, Renaud Meunier and Nicolas Bovesse, all three members of Belgium is design, the renowned Belgian institute.
The modularity of our system will allow the user to adapt the furniture according to his wishes and evolving needs over life, based on to the standard pieces defined by the designer, ensuring stability and consistency of the furniture.
Key objectives for inclusion
Our objective is to be inclusive both for the people we work for and for the ones we work with.
All our pieces are imagined and signed by professional designers, to assure high aesthetic and functional quality. They all are unique thanks to the particularities of each bamboo stem. To this, we add a value of modularity, allowing everyone to appropriate the work of the designer and adapt it to their own vision and space, thus increasing their sense of belonging.
Our modular conception makes our production and logistics very efficient. Also, bamboo is a cheap material compared to the alternatives (hard wood and steel or aluminium tubes) and the connection pieces can be produced at low cost using injection moulding. Thanks to these, our high-end furniture is accessible to many.
We collaborate with many local actors in our approach. Our system makes it possible to make the link between the enthusiasts who launch the local production of bamboo, the craftsmen who have the know-how to transform the raw materials into the components of the furniture, designed by the designers who are, like us, convinced of the need to rethink current furniture. We hope that our venture will stimulate these local and high-value jobs. We plan to collaborate with the local mission of Schaerbeek (Schaerbeek is a municipality of Brussels) which works on professional reinsertion to employ people with difficulties in our warehouse when it will be created.
It is the work of all these people with whom we work that makes it possible to create pieces that meet the expectations of the public, both from a functional point of view and in terms of design and sustainability. This allows consumers to no longer have to compromise between their desires and their values; to regain consistency in their consumption.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
These three dimensions are all key aspects of the project, linked by our unique connection system.
The development of a new connection system for bamboo structures has been motivated by the incredible sustainability qualities of bamboo.
The same system brings intrinsic sustainability in the furniture, by making them versatile and easy to revalorise. It is this versatility which makes our furniture adaptable, and increases people’ sense of belonging to their spaces.
The same system enables to modernise the use and aesthetic of raw bamboo, to convince European designers and users that bamboo is a solution for a more sustainable & beautiful world.
The same system involves making specific transformations to bamboo, for which we plan to create a local workshop, employing people who need it with quality jobs.
The philosophy of the project is materialized by this connection system, with objectives related to sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness, which allows to reconnect these three dimensions within a coherent piece of furniture.
