Shortlisted for lighting design of the year at Dezeen Awards 2019, Coffire lamps by Zhekai Zhang are made from waste coffee grounds.

Zhang developed a method of staining porcelain with used coffee grounds to mimic the texture of marble and applied the technique to the pendant lights to create a pink marble-like effect. The method, inspired by ancient Chinese pit-firing techniques, forms a random texture, meaning each Coffire pendant light is different.

The Coffire project grew out of a commercial commission to promote a coffee drink, leading the Chinese designer to conduct research into ceramic firing techniques. The designer used a gas kiln instead of a traditional sand pit to allow the lamps to be mass-produced while avoiding the high waste rate involved in pit firing.

Designer: Zhekai Zhang
Product: Coffire pendant light