Heritage boats & furniture

Lamu is one of the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlements in East Africa, well-known for its diverse heritage, intricately crafted furniture and the home of the “dhow”. Preserving this local and maritime heritage has always been at the heart of what we sought to do - we built the world’s first 100% recycled plastic sailing ‘dhow’ using traditional techniques to showcase indigenous craftsmanship paired with modern innovation. Now thanks to the SMEP Program, we are creating a variety of heritage products and boats using the high-quality plastic lumber that is produced from used plastics collected by communities and other local organisations from around the archipelago.

Dau La Mwao- traditional boat

We’ve set up a heritage boat-building training centre that teaches students practical circular economy skills as well as the heritage boat-building techniques. Our first cohort of students through the school helped build our second recycled sailing boat - the ‘Dau La Mwao’, a traditional boat used mainly for fishing. It was made using 700kg of plastic pollution that had been redirected from our natural environment into high-quality recycled lumber.

Taxi Dhow

Taxi boats are the most common way of getting around the Lamu archipelago. In recent years traditional taxi dhows have been increasingly replaced by fibre-glass boats, so we built a recycled taxi dhow using 1 tonne of plastic that was previously polluting our island.

artisanal FURNITURE

Lamu is well-known for its beautiful swahili furniture and intricate doors, yet this incredible skill is in danger of dying out. At our training centre, we are now training young craftsmen and women to master age-old skills in carpentry and boatbuilding but using plastic lumber as their material: we have trained some of Lamu’s first female carpenters and boat builders at the centre.

We are extremely fortunate to have our co founder, Ali Skanda, who is a master carpenter and boat-builder, as a mentor and teacher, working alongside our Head of Design, Katharina Elleke and our ever growing team of male and female carpenters and boat builders!

KITI CHA ENZI - THE GRANDEE’S CHAIR

The ‘Kiti Cha Enzi’, kiswahili for the ‘grandees chair’ dates back over 500 years and has traditionally used to seat people of influence. King Charles has been a longstanding advocate for the environment and in a speech last year called on the world to take ‘massive action’ to tackle plastic pollution. We were honoured to present our recycled version of the ‘Kiti Cha Enzi’ to King Charles in November 2023 as a token of appreciation to the UK Government for their support as part of The SMEP programme.

swahili chair range

swahili tables and stools range

outdoor range

All of these products have been tested and we are now confident to operationalise as a social enterprise, thanks to our incredible carpenters who are mastering the art of creating and carving with recycled plastic lumber, and preserving this beautiful skill for generations to come.

As a not-for-profit, our ambition is to develop self-sustaining enterprises that can support the transition to a zero plastic waste circular economy, and create more dignified jobs for Lamuians whilst continuing to preserve the heritage and protect our environment. If you are interested in learning more or partnering with us on this unique journey, please drop us an email.

With all the enquiries we are already receiving, we have opened up a waiting list for the first half of 2024. Visit our form to share your initial ideas and we will be in touch to develop your design further. Pre-orders are limited, so if you can’t wait, better fill out the form as soon as possible!