Giving retired aircraft parts and unwanted furniture a second life
30 Sep 2022
Winning works by NP’s Design students
A group of Year 1 Design students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) partnered Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scanteak two years ago to upcycle unwanted items such as discarded teak wood from Scanteak and leather seats, carpeting, and beverage trays from Singapore Airlines (SIA) retired aircraft. The students’ project, called Project Conscious Heir, centred around the theme of Singapore heritage. It was one of nine projects showcased at the exhibition, Design for Good, at library@orchard in September 2022.
We share the top four winning works from the students.
 | Inspired by the traditional five stones game, Design student Matthias Lim created these portable night lights for children. He cut out Peranakan designs from the leather of retired aircraft seats and carpeting, hand-sewed them together, and then layered them with aircraft life vests to shield users against direct light. |
Design student Matthew Seet made this coaster from unwanted teakwood panels from Scanteak and engraved them with SIA’s iconic floral batik pattern. What stands out is the packaging, which mimics the criss-crossed pattern of the ketaput, a traditional Malay rice cake. Matthew made this by weaving together leather strips of a light and dark shade harvested from retired aircraft seats. |  |
 | Arissa Hon made this wire wall grid from the beverage trays used in aircrafts, which was styled after old Peranakan tiles. She designed the grid, which comes with a small attachable tray and leather parts, as a storage solution for adults who need to work from home regularly. |
Melissa Tan invented this game, which she called Jemino, from discarded teakwood. It can be played as Jenga or Domino. The Jemino was elongated to fit Jenga's length-breadth ratio while the pips of the Domino are replaced by icons that represent Singapore's cultural heritage such as five stones and marbles. |  |
“We were excited to work with brand names such as SIA and Scanteak. In our interaction with their teams at a mini exhibition, we received feedback on our designs that gave us insights into what experts look for in effective product design.” - Design student Arissa Hon |
Read here about two other projects featured in the Design for Good Exhibition.