AdesignStorie: Design for Climate Change

In her work at AdesignStorie, Alicia Storie combines creative thinking with contemporary environmental practices that help to deliver conscious interior designs and collaborative projects with clients such as IKEA and Grand Designs Live.

AdesignStorie are fast becoming known for creating low-impact spaces with a focus on wellness environments  – from yoga studios to Tiny Houses. From the placement of bins to local ecotourism suggestions in the guidebook, Storie has mapped the user experience to weave sustainable behaviour into every Tiny House visit. Multifunctional layouts and modular joinery design minimises the volume of materials used and maximises functionality and flexibility, while the majority of the interior finishes and furnishings are reclaimed and layered with innovative eco-conscious materials. The result is a natural and timeless palette that reflects the local landscape.

Storie explains, “For the yoga studio I’m currently working on, the focus is on using design to enhance wellbeing. We have looked at how to create a healthy, sensory experience for people looking for a retreat. That includes sound, scent, natural light and colour theory to create a space that exudes calmness through consciously sourced materials.”

Eco-friendly sourcing in an interior design context involves utilising a combination of second-hand and new sustainably-sourced materials and furniture to create one-of-a-kind low-impact spaces. For a recent client – a cafe that prioritises sustainability – Storie has developed this approach beyond materials, designing user experiences around sustainability. For example, how the food is prepared and what's on the menu through to how the website can be designed to make collaboration with other sustainability partners easier. Even the artwork has been selected to communicate positive messaging.

“Our mission is to design climate-conscious interior environments that promote well-being, with a focus on both people and the planet. We take pride in collaborating with furniture and materials suppliers prioritising sustainability in their manufacturing and business operations. Guided by sustainability principles, we navigate the complex terrain of materials' off-gassing in alignment with the chemical red list, considering human health. We are striving to seamlessly integrate wellness and sustainability into every aspect of our designs."

In addition to her design work, Storie is a regular speaker and workshop host, sharing her experience in climate design. She has been selected by the World Design Organisation to collaborate on the Young Designers Circle 2023-25. She explains "The programme is aligned with the World Design Organisation’s mission to design for a better world, and its objectives to promote the use of design to help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This initiative aims to strengthen the role of design leadership today, by planting seeds that will lead to a large impact tomorrow."

Tiny House. Image credit: Megan Redden.

She also holds the role of Climate Designers UK Hub Lead, where she champions the widespread adoption of sustainable practices across the design industry. After attending an online climate designers event in San Francisco she saw the need to have a similar endeavour in Scotland – empowering designers to take climate action.

Climate Designers, a global collective effort utilises cross-disciplinary collaborations to address complex environmental challenges.

“We are open to all creatives who want to further their climate action ambitions whether they're at the start of their climate journey or sustainability experts. We create an environment for everyone to learn and share from each other. The sorts of insights that have emerged from previous discussions are that printing can be more sustainable when using fonts with a lighter weight because they use less ink. Similarly, certain colours in web design are more efficient to use, as is a move towards less video content and smaller images. Bio-materials are something that cross over into lots of disciplines and we also get into specifics like making your interior design studio more conscious.”

Storie wants to share her sustainability resources and help others to start their journey and evolve. Easy wins allow businesses to take action right away – for example, a switch to vegan catering can be implemented very quickly. 

“It’s really informal and that helps us to be able to have honest conversations about sustainability and be open about success and things that didn't work in equal parts. In this way, it’s authentic and a much more approachable way to see how to implement actions through conversations. I want to share my knowledge to help make sustainable design the default choice rather than a ‘nice to have.’”

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The next Climate Designers UK event is online, Thu 21 Mar, 10:30am
Check the @adesignstorie instagram for upcoming sustainable design workshops and climate design events and join the Climate Designers UK Chapter at climatedesigners.org/unitedkingdom
adesignstorie.com
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