Benjamin Hubert of experience design agency Layer has drawn inspiration from the sporting goods industry to create a modular sofa collection with an alternate approach to upholstery.

The Tape collection for Moroso was unveiled at the Salone del Mobile in Milan this year. It uses polyurethane tape to bond smaller pieces of textile together, which, says Hubert, would otherwise be discarded in the upholstery process and treated as waste. He made use of a variety of fabrics from Kvadrat to create the upholstery for a series of modular seating blocks as well as the hammock-like shelf for a table.

The pieces of fabric are first stitched together, then ‘bonded’ with polyurethane tape. The technique was inspired by the sporting industry, where such tape is used in the construction of snowboarding, ski, and wet-weather gear. Layer partnered with a technical garment manufacturer to develop the tape technology for use in furniture, and advanced heat-bonding machinery was used in the construction. Hubert prototyped the sofa and table in his UK studio.

Says Hubert: “At Layer we are always looking at fashion and technology trends in parallel industries. The Tape collection for Moroso is inspired by the technical and aesthetic properties of snowboarding jackets, a technique we find fascinating. This method of bonding allowed us to highlight how you can use smaller pieces of waste textile to create more sustainable upholstered furniture.”

Aside from ‘sealing’ the seams between panels, the tape serves the visual purpose of uniting different textiles into a cohesive whole. It also connects pockets to the arm modules on the sofa blocks, which can be used to gather and store papers, magazines, or remote controls.

Tape is the eighth collaboration between Benjamin Hubert and Moroso, and was twelve months in development. At the Salone del Mobile in 2017, Moroso unveiled Hubert’s prototypes for the Tent Chair, which incorporates a complex 3D-knitted mesh construction that shows the efficiencies possible with new production techniques.

Benjamin Hubert was one of two international jurors in Indesign Media’s Launch Pad program for 2018, contributing to the selection of the shortlisted entries.

In Singapore, Moroso is available from Xtra.