Faces of Furnitubes: Meet Theo Seah

With a keen eye for finding inspiration in uncommon places, Theo plays a crucial role in transforming outdoor urban spaces into realms of physical and emotional wellbeing. He values long-term thinking, caring design, and open-mindedness.

1. How would you describe your role in terms of the end result that a client or user experiences?

My role is integral to both client and user experiences. For clients, we design products for economic utility without compromising performance, considering the full lifecycle including installation, maintenance, and material recovery. For end-users, we strive to balance aesthetics and ergonomics to enhance the look and feel of public spaces.

2. What are the top 3 rules for anyone who joins your team?

1. Authenticity: Embrace diversity of thought.
2. Open-mindedness: Practice empathy and curiosity.
3. Passion: Love what we do and believe in its tangible impact on the world.

3. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you unexpectedly encounter a Furnitubes product in public?

I think about how the product has aged, how people are interacting with it, how it engages with the user journey in the area, and if there are any improvements to make.

4. What is the most satisfying part of your role?

Generating new ideas that click. When you finally create a concept that meets all requirements and is genuinely innovative, it’s extremely rewarding.

5. When faced with a challenge, what or who do you turn to for inspiration?

I look for inspiration in places such as Pinterest, Lemanoosh, Dezeen, YankoDesign but I’m rarely looking for urban furniture. I do this to abstract inspiration so that new ideas are not limited by my preconceptions of industry norms.

6. Can you share your design philosophy for creating sustainable outdoor furniture?

We start by asking if a product is necessary. If so, we approach design with a full life-cycle impact view, using the 3 Nested Dependencies Model. In practice, this means making conscientious decisions about the materials and manufacturing processes involved in the production of the product, considering the impact at every stage of the design journey. We prioritise local, reclaimed, recyclable, or renewable materials to balance aesthetics, utility, and environmental impact.

7. What innovative materials or processes have you incorporated into your designs to enhance sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint?

Most recent is our Endura Thermally Modified Ash timber. This material is renewable, locally sourced and carbon negative, all while offering the highest level of durability needed for outdoor furniture.

8. How do you envision outdoor furniture contributing to smart cities?

I’ve written two dissertations on smart furniture and I apply the learnings to all design projects. Smart furniture, either mechanically adaptable or electrified, will play a major role. It can assist with communication, transport systems, and environmental monitoring. Features like WIFI, device charging, and energy storage will become more common. Our goal is to leverage technology to improve environmental stability and enhance daily life in public spaces.

9. Have you explored integrating any smart technology or sensors into your furniture designs? If so, what potential applications or benefits could this provide in an urban setting?

One of our recent product lines, Veeva Sol, has been designed to integrate a smart solar beam in replacement of seat timber, which can be retrofitted to existing installations. This beam acts as a solar panel, providing sustainable energy for features such as wireless charging, ambient lighting, WIFI/GPS and more.

10. How do you design furniture for increasingly dense cities with valuable public spaces?

Modularity is key for us. We design with the future in mind, creating adaptable furniture that maximises performance in unique spaces while minimising environmental impact. Our approach considers everything from replaceable individual parts to reconfigurable whole units, allowing for customisation that suits changing pedestrian needs.

11. What role do locally sourced or recycled materials play in your sustainable solutions for smart cities?

Local and recycled materials are crucial for sustainable urban furniture. We’re working towards a future where our products are made entirely from locally sourced materials, significantly reducing virgin material usage. Currently, we’re utilising innovative materials like Endura thermally modified ash, reclaimed tropical hardwoods, and recycled steel to bring this vision to life.

12. How do you see outdoor furniture design evolving for more sustainable, resilient cities?

The primary evolution will likely be through smart technologies like solar panels and air quality sensors. We need to move towards circular business models, viewing furniture as a product-service system. This approach will help us optimise environmental, societal, and economic sustainability.

13. If you were to attempt a profession other than your current one, what would it be?

There aren’t enough lives for this one! I could see myself as an independent singer/songwriter, as music is already a major hobby of mine. Alternatively, I’m fascinated by neuroscience and psychology, so I could imagine being a researcher in those fields.

14. When you’re not at work, what brings a smile to your face?

All of my relationships bring a smile to my face, but if I had to choose something else, I’d say new adventures and animals. My social media feed is essentially woodwork, nature, and mostly animals – they bring me a lot of joy.

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Faces of Furnitubes: Theo Seah

With a keen eye for finding inspiration in uncommon places, Theo plays a crucial role in transforming outdoor urban spaces into realms of physical and emotional wellbeing. He values long-term thinking, caring design, and open-mindedness.

1. How would you describe your role in terms of the end result that a client or user experiences?

2. What are the top 3 rules for anyone who joins your team?

3. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you unexpectedly encounter a Furnitubes product in public?

4. What is the most satisfying part of your role?

5. When faced with a challenge, what or who do you turn to for inspiration?

6. Can you share your design philosophy for creating sustainable outdoor furniture?

7. What innovative materials or processes have you incorporated into your designs to enhance sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint?

8. How do you envision outdoor furniture contributing to smart cities?

9. Have you explored integrating any smart technology or sensors into your furniture designs? If so, what potential applications or benefits could this provide in an urban setting?

10. How do you design furniture for increasingly dense cities with valuable public spaces?

11. What role do locally sourced or recycled materials play in your sustainable solutions for smart cities?

12. How do you see outdoor furniture design evolving for more sustainable, resilient cities?

13. If you were to attempt a profession other than your current one, what would it be?

14. When you’re not at work, what brings a smile to your face?

For more on what the Furnitubes folks are up to, find us on Linkedin.

Faces of Furnitubes: Theo Seah

With a keen eye for finding inspiration in uncommon places, Theo plays a crucial role in transforming outdoor urban spaces into realms of physical and emotional wellbeing. He values long-term thinking, caring design, and open-mindedness.

1. How would you describe your role in terms of the end result that a client or user experiences?

2. What are the top 3 rules for anyone who joins your team?

3. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you unexpectedly encounter a Furnitubes product in public?

4. What is the most satisfying part of your role?

5. When faced with a challenge, what or who do you turn to for inspiration?

6. Can you share your design philosophy for creating sustainable outdoor furniture?

7. What innovative materials or processes have you incorporated into your designs to enhance sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint?

8. How do you envision outdoor furniture contributing to smart cities?

9. Have you explored integrating any smart technology or sensors into your furniture designs? If so, what potential applications or benefits could this provide in an urban setting?

10. How do you design furniture for increasingly dense cities with valuable public spaces?

11. What role do locally sourced or recycled materials play in your sustainable solutions for smart cities?

12. How do you see outdoor furniture design evolving for more sustainable, resilient cities?

13. If you were to attempt a profession other than your current one, what would it be?

14. When you’re not at work, what brings a smile to your face?

For more on what the Furnitubes folks are up to, find us on Linkedin.

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