Watch the conversation replay of 'What We Need Now'

Replay Ella Doran and jewellery designer Sian Evans as they discuss what we need as people and small businesses to survive and even thrive moving forward in this moment.

Moderated by Charlene C Lam, NYC-LDN content consultant and curator of The Creative Edit.

A conversation with East London designers Sian Evans and Ella Doran, with curator and creative business consultant Charlene C Lam of The Creative Edit. Part of the Shoreditch Design Triangle during London Design Festival 2020.

‘Clean Up Plastic Camo Chair’ revealed at Solid Floor East

Ella Doran and Urban Upholstery join forces to showcase their stunning ‘Clean Up Plastic Camo chair’ viewable at Solid Floor East during Shoreditch Design Triangle 2020

Urban Upholstery and Ella Doran have celebrated the circular economy and material re-use and re-design by giving new life to old furniture for over 10 years.
The project started with an abandoned chair from the streets of Hackney. The chair was de-constructed back to its core frame and re-upholstered during Shoreditch Design Triangle 2018 live at The Old Bank Vault art gallery, alongside a group of school children from Shoreditch Park School.

Clean Up Plastic Camo chair Thames London.

Clean Up Plastic Camo chair Thames London.

7a Ezra Street,
London E2 7RH,
UK VIEW ON MAP

Mon - Fri 10 - 6 pm Sat 12 - 6 pm Sun 10 - 2 pm

The textile design was born from a further collaboration between Ella and Sophie Thomas.
The design depicts waste plastic collected by Sophie from beaches around the world. Together they created artful arrangements of these almost jewel-like pieces. Ella photographed them to then create the textile design, the nature of which is only revealed under close inspection.
The fabric tells the negative back-story of plastic pollution with a new message of re-use and hope.

Visit the showroom at Solid Floor during the festival to view the chair in all its splendour. The chair is available to buy as a unique one-off piece and we welcome further commissions, just get in touch.


There will be a podcast discussing the full story of the chair and the textile at 3pm on September 14th, featuring everyone involved, from Ella Doran and Sophie Thomas to Andrea and Patrizia of Urban Upholstery, as part of the Shoreditch Design Triangle podcast series.

Multi Story Thinking

The Multi Story Thinking Podcast unravels the mysteries of interior design.

Hosted by designer and educator Jonathan Forster the podcast takes an educational slant on the world of interior design providing an insight into the how and the why.

It includes interviews with professionals from across the spectrum of the interior design world alongside more practical discussions about techniques, processes and the professional practice of interior design.

Jonathan recently had a chat with Ella in which we discover how she set up her business after a chance meeting with a supplier, her philosophy on design and the importance of materials and processes. The challenges and opportunities of licensing. And how she got the inspiration for a project by observing the landscape and sheep!

Listen to it here

Jonathan Forster and Ella on Zoom recording the podcast!

Jonathan Forster and Ella on Zoom recording the podcast!

Circular Design thinking in action

Back in 2017, I was working on a bespoke range of merchandise for YSP, and reflecting on a residency I had undertaken with the Great Recovery (2015/16) at the RSA investigating bulky waste, you can read the full report here. After this residency, I had a strong desire to advocate and educate the public about the circular economy, which inspired me to create my biggest solo project to date  - ‘Sheep to Seat, Fleece to Floor’ at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This took me over a year to realize and to raise financial support from my sponsors, thanks to Camira Fabrics, Alternative Flooring, and Campaign for Wool, this was all made possible.

My aim was to feature the journey of British wool, culminating in an immersive room set exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It celebrated the Park’s resources, its beauty, and the joy of creativity and collaboration. Wool is one of the most versatile, sustainable and abundant agricultural materials, and currently, it is one of the most undervalued as a commodity.

The journey of the wool for this exhibition

The journey of the wool for this exhibition

My objective was to create a road map for the materials and manufacturing processes and to shine a light on the principles of the Circular Economy for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s visitors to understand. I wanted to make visible all of the processes  (shearing, scouring, spinning, dyeing and weaving) that the wool from the sheep at Yorkshire Sculpture Park had to go through in order to be made into woven textiles, blankets, tapestries, furniture, and a floor runner.  All incorporating my designs inspired by the flora and fauna at the Park.

This was filmed by Paul Wyatt in real-time as the project progressed and the film, The Fabric of the Land’ was shown throughout the duration of the exhibition.

‘Where there is muck there is brass’ this is the industry’s famous saying, nothing goes to waste in the scouring plant at Haworth’s, everything extracted is taken off for re-use, the oils extracted have a multitude of uses from beauty products to Vitamin D, even the nutrient rich dust (shoddy) is used in agriculture. The shoddy in this case, was returned to the Park in early November and we planted a Rowan tree completing a full life cycle of the wool for this project.

I have so many collaborators to thank:

Starting with Retail exhibition & Programme Manager Amanda Peach, who helped me make it all happen! YSP Chief Gardner Terry Lee, and Hayley Barrett designer from Camira Fabrics, furniture designer Julian Mayor, Marketing Manager Lorna Haigh from Alternative Flooring, Peter Ackroyd From Campaign for wool, and Graham Clark & Haldi Kranich-Wood from British Wool, Tim Booth from Atlantic Yarns and, filmmaker Paul Wyatt & RSA Fellow, Tim Cox and Sheridan Coakley of Coackly Cox Furniture Manufacturers. For my wallpapers inspired by the flora of the Park, a big thank you goes to 1838 wall coverings sister company to Surface Print and to Fiona Fouhy and Susan Clarke of East London Print Makers

close up of one of my small tapestry woven piece for the exhibition

close up of one of my small tapestry woven piece for the exhibition

Completing the cycle of wool at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

To those of you who have watched the film by Paul Wyatt, below, you will recall that I said I would return the waste wool from Haworth’s to the Park, and plant a tree. Well this week I did just that! I closed the circle on the cycle of the wool from the sheep that graze amongst the Henry Moore sculptures. I had the help of my assistant Milda and Mark Chesman one of the resident Gardner’s at YSP.

Rowan Tree ready to plant at YSP

Rowan Tree ready to plant at YSP

The tree had been waiting to be planted since the closure of Giuseppe Penone’s exquisite exhibition earlier in the year. The tree designated for me was a Rowan tree also known as a Mountain Ash, due to the fact that it grows well at high altitudes and its leaves are similar to those of an ash.

It is best to plant trees from late October onwards in the UK - many experts claim this because the tree can make new roots without having to feed the leaves. The roots grow best in cool soil, therefore the winter months give the roots time to form before the leaves develop through spring to summer, thus vying for the greater share of energy to do so.

YSP gardner digging.jpg

The wool dust was saved from the scouring at Haworth’s in Bradford, earlier in the Spring and returned to the ground buried with a wool sack that I made using the jacquard woven textile of my Waterlake design. You can read more about the weaving with Camira Fabrics here.

Saori loom.jpg
the wool dust and the bag.jpg

I’ve been reading a lot about sequestering carbon, and the single most effective route to do this, is to plant more trees. I personally donate to TreeSisters who are on a mission to plant millions of trees, from Mount Kenya to Cameroon, Indonesia to Mozambique to list a few, and empowering the local communities in each region to grow them. Clare Dubois is a compelling leader and speaker, you can listen to her in conversation with Jon Snow earlier in May this year here in London.

Further links to support planting trees closer to home:

Re-wilding the Scottish Highlands:

Trees for Life

Closer to home I am thrilled to see that my borough of Hackney has a plan to plant 5000 trees in less than three years a mixture of native and non native ones.

Hackney Council announce tree planting scheme

Planted! Yorkshire Sculpture Park October 2019

Planted! Yorkshire Sculpture Park October 2019