Nola’s initiative at the recent Stockholm Furniture Fair was designed to make our participation as waste-free as possible. Our products weren’t displayed in a trade fair stand that had to be built, but presented in a public area.. Our approach challenged the way that products and the public can interact, which shifted the belief that post-construction waste is inevitable at trade shows.
The secret to creating public space products with long lifespans is making them part of a regular maintenance routine. Outdoor products require continuous care, necessitating discussions between manufacturers and public space stakeholders even before they are produced. At Nola, design plays a key role in making products that require minimal maintenance while still offering maximum durability.
Nola is pleased to announce that products from our popular Kajen furniture range were recently awarded the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. The Swan eco-labelling initiative certifies that products are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable, and conform to guidelines agreed by the Scandinavian countries and policy mandates regulated by the European Union.
Since the 1990s, Nola have supplied outdoor furniture designs for the streets and urban parks of Kalmar. One of the unique features in Kalmar is the condition of the outdoor designs we provided in 1997, which continue to look as new as they did when they were delivered.
Today, accessibility is a central part of our design brief and product development process, and something that is second nature to Nola. ‘Accessible’, just like ‘inclusive’, are more than keywords - they top the list of requirements for each and every product we design.
Kebne Outdoor Gym consists of five individual units for resistance training and stretching. Kebne is a complete system for building muscle tone and strength by using the body as a counterweight. With Kebne comes a community vision for creating inclusive meeting places for all people.
‘A city for everyone,’ sounds like a nice idea, and one that could even be too good to be true. At first, it seems like a utopian concept, and probably something that many urban dwellers would want to sign up for. But paradoxically, a multifunctional city with an ambition to work for everyone could end up being uninspiring, and somewhat dull.
Participating in this Autumn’s Stockholm Creative Edition, designer Anki Gneib opened her studio to present Nola’s latest collection. The launch included a new series of garden furniture, a contemporary planter and a granite seat. Inspirations included the courtyard outside Anki’s studio, the shape of the Edelweiss Association's old bell tower and gardens in Stockholm’s Östermalm neighbourhood.
As cities develop bicycle infrastructures, they’re investing in the environment too. The benefits of urban cycling are easy to understand, but awareness of them is slow to spread. Leading experts say its time to break the vehicle norm, and introduce urban cycling to create lasting change.
Kaskad was something special when it was launched ten years ago, and the chair continues to turn heads to this day. Björn Dahlström, the chair’s designer, tells us about some of the things that inspired the award-winning design and its development.
Every day, cities evolve at a rapid pace, and the needs of urban cyclists grow with them. Today, city-dwellers are cycling more than ever before, which is good for the environment, and important for the well-being of all. As urban planning and infrastructure projects reflect these new priorities, our range of products for cyclists is meeting them too. They’re making it easier to choose to cycle, and more satisfying to leave the car in the garage. This selection of bike racks, bollards, bike sheds and other Nola products are designed to keep urban cyclists on the move.
Summertime in Sweden is unique. It’s a time when cities and their inhabitants come to life, and a season when temporary parks and outdoor products are being put in place. Then September rolls round, and the places, products and people disappear. Where do they all go? Nola thinks they should stay in place all year.
