Dezeen Magazine

Pupa by Lazerian

Pupa by Lazerian

Manchester designer Liam Hopkins of Lazerian used waste cardboard from media company Bloomberg to construct a meeting area inside their London headquarters.

Pupa by Lazerian

The recycled cardboard was pulped and reconstituted into triangular sections, which combine to create the cave-like Pupa structure.

Pupa by Lazerian

The curved form wraps around a 14-seat table that also has a surface of tessellated cardboard.

Pupa by Lazerian

The legs of the table and surrounding chairs were fabricated from dismantled timber pallets, while the padded chair seats are covered with leather offcuts.

Pupa by Lazerian

We've published a few projects from product design studio Lazerian on Dezeen - see our earlier stories here, including a collection of candle holders shaped like laboratory beakers.

Pupa by Lazerian

Photography is by Alex Maguire.

Here's a bit more text from Hopkins:


Pupa is a habitat by Liam Hopkins of Lazerian within Bloomberg's London headquarters made from reclaimed cardboard and pallets.

Pupa by Lazerian

The form and aesthetics are inspired by natural habitats – cocoons, bee hives, spiders nests and weaver birds nests.

Pupa by Lazerian

The ceiling assumes the appearance of a shelter; snug and cave like, but also references the vaulted ceilings of church naves.

Pupa by Lazerian

The numbers which can be extrapolated from Pupa reflect the almost Sisyphean task faced, whether by human, bird or insect, to create these sort of  structures:

      • 3,972 triangular cardboard borders make up frame
      • 3,972 triangle inners fill the exoskeleton providing the cover
      • 180 wooden pallets taken apart for chair frame and legs
      • 11,000 nails removed from wooden pallets
      • 252 leather offcuts from make up the chair seats
Pupa by Lazerian

Constructed in triangular sections Pupa utilises the structural and acoustic properties of cardboard.

Pupa by Lazerian

Computer design techniques were used to generate the form and the individual components were then extracted from the virtual model to create flat layouts that are glued together by hand.

Pupa by Lazerian

The original Bloomberg cardboard arrived in damp bales so was pulped and re-constituted at a John Hargreaves factory in Stalybridge using machinery originally installed in 1910.

Pupa by Lazerian