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Upholstered pods offer spot for creative immersion

Swatches | December 1, 2021 | By:

Lazerian Space combines food and drink with art and design, immersing guests within fabric upholstered aluminum pods. Photos: Gu Photography.

With commissioned work coming to a halt last year because of the pandemic, artist Liam Hopkins set out to design his own project—a venue that would inspire and evolve. The result is Lazerian Space, a combination art gallery and cafe on King Street in Manchester, England. 

Inside the space, guests lounge and nosh within one of six aluminum pods featuring colorful upholstered interiors that use Oceanic fabrics from Camira Fabrics. Oceanic is the result of Camira’s partnership with the SEAQUAL Initiative, which turns plastic marine pollution and items destined for the landfill into sustainable products, including textiles.  

“Choosing the right material was of high importance to the project,” Hopkins said in an interview with Camira Fabrics. “And the story behind how it’s made is just as important as the aesthetics—especially when it comes to the sustainability of a material—which is why we were excited to use Oceanic. It’s a great quality material, which not only looks and feels great with its intricate twill weave, but what it stands for is something that has always been of vital importance to Lazerian and my own personal ethics. Feeling that I could be helping, even in such a small way, to combat marine plastic pollution and pass this information along and spread the message of the importance of using such sustainable products felt like the right thing to do.”

Opened in June 2021, the venture was influenced by the experiences of the pandemic—the pods are “reflective of the individual little worlds we lived in during lockdown,” Hopkins said, while the upholstery colors offer a message of hope. 

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