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Interior Design (MA)

Ella Adiki Nartey

A round paper pulp table top made using recycled blue egg boxes which give a marbled effect.

Ella Adiki is a London-based Architectural and Interior Designer from South Yorkshire. Having previously studied a BArch in Architecture and worked at an award-winning London Architectural Practice, Ella decided to continue her design development and exploration on the RCA's MA Interior Design Programme where she is the recipient of the Burberry Design Scholarship.

With a particular interest in interior and brand integrated design, set design and material innovation her work has a multidisciplinary approach, with a keen eye for colour, materiality and hands on making. Her work explores the theme of 'Reuse', aiming to reduce the reliance on traditional raw materials and to promote a circular and more sustainable approach within the design industry.


Education:

Royal College of Art, MA Interior Design - September 2022 - 2023

UAL Styling for Interiors - March 2022

University of Nottingham, BArch Architecture First Class Honours - September 2017 - 2020

Cambridge University Architecture Summer School - Summer 2016


Degree Details

School of ArchitectureInterior Design (MA)SuperMatterRCA2023 at Battersea and Kensington

RCA Kensington, Darwin Building, Upper-ground floor

Sponsor: Burberry Design Scholarship

A black and white photograph of Ella.

Can a Restaurant Waste Not? by Ella Adiki

Interior design has always relied heavily upon traditional raw materials. This over-consumption of finite resources is unsustainable. To what extent can design help us to re-evaluate our perception of reuse and the possibilities of waste? Combining the staggering estimates of food waste generated per annum within both households and the hospitality sector, can we as designers utilise this excess, showcasing circular design within day-to day practice without compromising on design quality, creativity or user experience.

According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the UK wastes approximately 9.5 million tonnes of food each year. Estimates suggest households are responsible for 70% of all food waste with the hospitality sector adding an additional 3 millions tonnes of food waste per annum. Each tonne of food waste that ends up in landfill is then responsible for producing approximately 4.2 tonnes of greenhouse gases. As a result, the UK’s first food waste reduction roadmap aims to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.

Ella’s project ‘WASTE NOT’ aims to re-evaluate our view on waste and our reliance on traditional raw materials. Designing a zero-waste restaurant and developing a number of biomaterials using food waste and by-products, Ella aims to promote circular design within the built environment and to celebrate waste as a resource. Situated within the former Siemens Brother’s Factory in Woolwich the restaurant design salvages and repurposes the existing architecture, industrial language and colour palette with waste reuse at the forefront of the menu, materiality and restaurant programme. Utilising the waste streams from the local residents and restaurant’s kitchens the programme aims to create a unique and educational dining experience. The Restaurant is divided into three kitchens each with a really restricted menu and each producing a specific waste stream that can be utilised to create new products and materials. The circular kitchen and integrated workshops allow the diners to observe the food from its raw state, to their plate, to the manufacture of the waste to produce the materials showcased around the restaurant.



A laid out selection of food by products such as egg shells and onions alongside some handmade bio materials
Waste Not Material Samples – A selection of material samples using food waste and food by-products.
A series of three egg shell bio material samples
A series of three paper pulp bio material samples
A series of three mussel shell bio material samples
A Mycelium material sample to the left and natural fabric dye samples to the right

Medium:

Biopolymer, biomaterial, mussel shells, egg shells, recycled egg boxes, onion skins,
biodegradablebiomaterialcircular-designfood-wastefuture-materialsinnovationmaterialitynatural-dyereusesustainability
Three bullet points of text including Food Waste Statistics
A Diagram with blue line sketches showing the restaurant programme
Waste Not: Restaurant Programme
Orange Text saying 'Waste Not want Not'
A blue line drawing of the Ground floor plan of the building
Waste Not Restaurant - Ground Floor Plan
A blue line drawing of the Ground floor plan of the building
Waste Not Restaurant - Mezzanine Floor Plan
A photoshopped elevation of a brick industrial building
A series of photographs of existing industrial architectural elements organised in similar colour tones, blue, green and orange
A series of photographs of existing industrial architectural elements
A 1:1 model of a part of a blue factory door (Front)
Material Totem Part 1 – A 1:1 replica model of one of the factory doors within the Siemen's Brothers Factory Site that will be salvaged and reused within the restaurant design. Materials: Mild Steel, Timber, Chicken Wire, Acrylic Paint Size: 355mm x 478mm
A 1:1 model of a part of a blue factory door (Back)
A 1:1 model of a part of a blue factory roller shutter door (Front)
Material Totem Part 2 – A 1:1 replica model of one of the roller shutters within the Siemen's Brothers Factory Site that will be salvaged and reused within the restaurant design. Materials: Mild Steel, MDF, Acrylic Paint
A 1:1 model of a part of a blue factory roller shutter door (Back)
A CGI view of the Vegetarian Kitchen in which you can see a large mixer at the centre
A material palette all in shades of green which include the egg shell sample materials
The Vegetarian Kitchen Material Palette – Materials Include: Egg shell bio materials, recycled egg box paper pulp tiles, , salvaged woven metal mesh panel from the existing building, stainless steel, copper patina, Waste Bricks (Stone Cycling)
A circular table top made from blue recycled egg boxes. It has the look of marble
A Poor Man's Marble – A table top made using blue recycled egg boxes and a bio polymer
A CGI view of the vegetarian Kitchen with the Vegan Kitchen in the background
A black line drawing of the underside of a egg box
The egg box form was a catalyst for the architectural forms and materiality used within the Vegetarian Kitchen design
A 1:20 Sectional Model inspired by the egg box form.
The Vegetarian Kitchen - 1:20 Sectional Model – Materials Include: Egg shell bio material, recycled egg box paper pulp, stainless steel, timber, wire mesh, acrylic rod, plaster
A CGI view of the pescatarian kitchen where you can see a large shell crusher
A sculptural material palette including all mussel shell material samples
The Pescatarian Kitchen Material Palette – Materials Include: Mussel shell material samples, fish skin leather, salvaged woven metal mesh from the existing building, stainless steel, Waste Bricks (Stone Cycling) and recycled glass,
A 1:20 Sectional Model with material samples at either side
The Pescatarian Kitchen - 1:20 Sectional Model – Materials: Mussel shell bio material, timber, metal wire, mild steel, acrylic rod, paint,
A zoomed out CGI view of the pescatarian kitchen where you can see a large shell crusher
A CGI view of the Vegan Kitchen
A material palette including onion skin dyed napkins and mycelium
The Vegan Kitchen Material Palette – Materials Include: Mycelium blocks (oyster mushroom grain spawn with sawdust substrate), onion skin bio material using a bio polymer binder, onion skin dyed napkins
A 1:20 sectional model with onion dyed napkins and a mycelium brick alongside
The Vegan Kitchen 1:20 Sectional Model – Materials: Timber, plaster, mild steel, acrylic rod, paint
A zoomed out CGI view of the Vegan Kitchen
A fanned out spread of natural fabric dye napkins
WASTE NOT Napkins – Natural Fabric Dyes Include: Steel rust, onion skins, onion skins and lemon juice, red cabbage, black beans, copper patina
A grid of 5 x 4 small material experiments all using orange fabric
Material Literacy Experiments '50 Shades of Orange'' – A series of material literacy experiments using textiles

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Royal College of Art

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