Glassware Designer Maison/0

Over 5 months (Jan 2024 - May 2024), Lulu was given the role as Glassware Designer for Maison/0 LVMH, to showcase how we can prototype creative circularity for luxury tableware.

Lulu was interested in sourcing material waste across local industry sectors to develop a circular glassmaking process that reduces energy and removes the use of non-renewable materials. She was also interested in how ancient glass making processes could inform a new approach to luxury.

Glass making is energy intensive and relies on extractive finite raw materials for mainstream large-scale production. With this collection, Lulu Harrison developed a regional waste material sourcing strategy that also contributes towards lowering the typical melting range of the raw material batch - working towards reducing the carbon emission of glass-making.

Throughout the project Lulu worked closely with Dr. Sabrin Samad and Prof. Paul Bingham at the Glass & Ceramic Research Group at Sheffield/Hallam University for assistance in recipe development, sample batch testing and chemical analysis. She continues to work in partnership with them as her new role as Visiting Researcher on upcoming and future projects.

Processes:

● Establishing a local network of stakeholders for material sourcing and fabrication.

● Temperature reduction: chemical analysis used for selection of materials which can assist with colouring & lowering melting range of the final batch.

● Colour: celebrate impurities that come from local/waste materials and historical glass-making processes.

● Design: using prunt detail and/or reusable optic moulds.

Materials:

● Waste cullet

● Recycled glass

● Wine lees sourced from Kent winemakers Davenport Vineyards (leftover sediment

from wine production)

● Biomass ash sourced from Sheffield Hallam University

● Local Kent sand

● Quagga mussel shells sourced from Thames Water (an invasive species in the UK)

Sheffield/Hallam Glass Research Centre

Processing Batch Materials

Glass Designs

Glass Production

Final Collection

With the shape and material design, Lulu celebrates the diversity of colours and textures that resonate with ancestral and historical collections, challenging our expectation of transparency in contemporary luxury glassware.

With thanks to:

Sheffield Hallam University Glass Research Centre, The Glass Hub and Glass blowers Ben Gough and Abigail Wilderspin.

Davenport Vineyards, Oastbrook Estate Vineyard, Westwell wines, Numbers Winery.

Maison/0 - the collaborative platform set up by Central Saint Martins and the luxury group LVMH to prototype regenerative luxury via design-led research.