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Reform: Upholstery Beyond Foam
Reform: Upholstery Beyond Foam
Name
Persia Kathleen Mckinney-Duncan
Education degree
Kandidat
Fagfelt
Design
Institute
Design, Product and Material
Program
Furniture Design - Products, Materials and Contexts
Year
2025
Reform presents an invisible revolution: redefining the materials we use to build comfort inside sofas. To eliminate the use of polyurethane foam, sheets of recycled textiles and metal coils are assembled to the frame without the use of glue. The design focuses on comfort, disassembly and thoughtful construction to develop a new and responsible approach to upholstery—one that you can’t see.
Polyurethane foam, the industry standard for softness, is made from non-renewable fossil fuels and is nearly impossible to recycle once glued into layered constructions. Reform offers an alternative: a modular seating system built from recycled textile panels from Haack Recycling, supported by a spring-based structure. These components are mechanically fastened, not bonded, allowing full disassembly for repair or recycling. Instead of relying on niche craft or speculative materials, the project is rooted in accessible supply chains and scalable processes like CNC milling—making it both sustainable and feasible to produce.
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Material Composition of Sofa
Sofa Modularity
Reform is made from three individual modules which can be combined into any number of spatial configurations.
The sofa also has a removable slipcover which lays over a secondary layer of textile working to secure the padding materials. This makes the sofa easy to disassemble for cleaning, repair, and at the end of its lifecycle.
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Developed through hands-on prototyping and comfort testing, the project shows that circularity, comfort, and craftsmanship can coexist—without foam.
The Royal Danish Academy supports the Sustainable Development Goals
Since 2017 the Royal Danish Academy has worked with the Sustainable Development Goals. This is reflected in our research, our teaching and in our students’ projects. This project relates to the following UN goal(-s)
