Noo.ma designs adaptable storage furniture made from recycled materials

Polish startup Noo.ma has designed Mod Media Furniture, a sideboard with interchangeable storage modules that can be reconfigured to suit the user’s needs.

Noo.ma‘s Mod Media Furniture comes with a choice of storage module inserts including open shelves, closed shelves, and drawers. Each module can be rearranged, repaired and replaced to give the furniture piece a longer lifecycle.

“One of the most significant objectives of design and production was extending Mod Media Furniture’s lifespan, making it more circular and therefore distinguishing it from its competitors,” said the brand.

“You don’t have to stick to only one set up for a lifetime. Users can reconfigure their Mod Media Furniture even after it’s already built, and adjust it to their changing needs and interiors at any time.”

The low-level sideboard, which was shortlisted in the furniture design category of Dezeen Awards 2021, is made from melamine particleboard that is six millimeters thinner than boards used in mass production. According to the brand, this achieves material savings of 33.3 per cent.

“The common industry practice is to use the 18 millimetre board because it’s available in stock in most of the desired finishes and colours,” explained Noo.ma. “Our thinner board has to be made to order.”

In addition to being an adaptable design feature, the storage modules were designed to form the structural part of the sideboard, allowing the exterior unit to be made of thinner material.

Mod Media Furniture is delivered flat-pack and plastic-free, which the brand claims reduces its carbon footprint by 66.7 per cent.

The furniture piece is made from 90 per cent recycled resources. As well as the melamine particleboard, it consists of black powder-coated steel for the base and legs.

Mod Media Furniture, which comes in grey or burgundy, was designed to not look bulky or solid. “Each module is slightly recessed to add visual lightness to this remarkably spacious piece,” said the brand.

Mod Media Furniture was shortlisted in the Dezeen Awards 2021 alongside a furniture collection that can be constructed with traditional pegs and an electric fan disguised as an understated side table.

The award was ultimately won by Soda, a coffee table made from a single volume of glass, designed by Yiannis Ghikas for Miniforms.