Bolt transforms 40kg of scrapped car airbags into street furniture

Bolt has partnered with Stockholm-based design studio Interesting Times Gang to transform scrap cars into unique street furniture.

The collection, Living Vroom, features six designer pieces symbolising the potential of urban landscapes when prioritising people over car-centric infrastructure.

European roads now accommodate approximately 252 million, with close to six million passenger cars scrapped in Europe annually.

Bolt’s idea to design a street furniture collection was sparked by the recognition that car infrastructure, like roads and parking spaces, now makes up as much as 60% of most cities.

Research also suggests that shared mobility has the potential to cut private car use by 20%, which would mean more space for people to bike, walk, enjoy greenery, play parks or open-air cafes.

The Living Vroom collection symbolises the transition from prioritising cars over people to prioritising people’s enjoyment and well-being in their urban environment – almost like in a living room.

The Living Vroom collection includes a pouffe, a single chair, a bench, a flower lamp, a smaller floor lamp and a coffee table.

Sean Barret, the head of innovation at the Interesting Times Gang, said: “Repurposing materials is something we obviously love to do, but our collaboration with Bolt involved working with waste materials from the automotive industry — something we’d never used before.

“Our creative process took us from ‘American retro’ to ‘Mad Max’, but in the end, we decided on something more natural, but playful at the same time. The project blends two seeming opposites: advanced technology, such as 3D printing recycled materials, and an old-timey appreciation for a unique and well-designed public space.

“The furniture base is 3D-printed from recycled airbags and reinforced with glass fibre to last outdoors. To counter the usual boring street lighting designs, we designed a solar-powered lamp that looks like a giant flower, charges during the day and turns on in the dark. It feels like you’re walking in a park.”

A primary material used in the collection is repurposed airbags. These are reinforced with glass fibre for the chair and bench, while the lamps are equipped with solar panels.

In total, the chair cushions and lamps used up to 35 airbags, and as much as 40kg of airbags were used to 3D-print the chair bases.

All airbags were salvaged from a car recycling wasteland. The materials and the modular design ensure that the furniture can endure four-season weather and is transportable at the same time.

Liisa Ennuste, a creative strategist at Bolt, added: “The logic for us was simple. Currently, there are 252 million cars driving around Europe – well, actually parking 95% of the time – and the number is only growing.

“For cities, this means a loss of valuable urban space. We know that shared mobility can reduce car usage and, as a result, open up more room in the city for people-friendly spaces. The Living Vroom furniture project was a great metaphor for that.”

The futuristic-looking furniture collection, produced in Sweden, debuts at the Stockholm Creative Edition, an annual design exhibition, which is themed Open Mind, Open City.