Redefining Value: From Currency to Museum Benches

Redefining Value at the London Design Festival

The Bank of England Museum, within its temporary wing, presents a project titled “Rebuilding Value,” posing a fundamental question: What makes something worth the value we assign to it?

Turning Money from a Financial Medium into Raw Material

The concept stems from a routine process carried out by the bank: withdrawing old banknotes from circulation. These notes, which have lost their economic function, are shredded and transformed into a composite material using a special plastic that preserves the original texture of the paper.
In this way, sheets are produced with distinct colors and intricate security patterns that can be recognized, even though they are abstracted from their original function.

From Currency to Sculptural Benches

These sheets were then used to design sculptural benches shaped like the British pound symbol (£). This step goes beyond recycling, it provokes deeper reflection on the relationship between form and value, and between symbol and reality.

A Visual Dialogue Between Past and Present

To enrich the visual experience, carefully coordinated complementary surfaces were added by the Surface Matter team, incorporating elements reminiscent of:

• Roman mosaics
• Portland stone
• Patinated copper

These choices are not arbitrary; they reflect the character of the historic bank building and create a space for dialogue between the old architectural heritage and contemporary innovation.

A Playful Design Language That Reinterprets the Familiar

Designer Saskia Boersma stands out for her ability to reimagine everyday objects with a playful touch, transforming them beyond their ordinary function into part of a broader visual and intellectual experience.

Benches as Public Art and Functional Furniture

In this project, the benches serve as both practical furniture and public art. Each bench is designed with unique curves that give it a symbolic shape, appearing from above as the British pound symbol (£). In this way, the act of sitting itself becomes a continuous visual reminder of the movement and flow of money.

Redefining the Museum’s Interior Space

These benches occupy a prominent position within the museum’s historic vault hall, a space previously associated with safes and records. Through this artistic intervention, the hall is redefined, transforming from a storage area into an interactive social space that encourages communication and reflection.

The Project’s Environmental Dimension

The project goes beyond offering aesthetic or symbolic value, extending to an environmental vision that addresses the issue of paper waste. Instead of millions of withdrawn banknotes ending up in landfills, they are transformed into a new reusable raw material.

Towards an Innovative Circular Economy

Through this approach, the project becomes a small-scale model of the circular economy concept, where discarded materials gain a second life in a new creative form. Here, defunct money is translated into a design resource rather than an environmental burden.

Eco-Friendly Material with an Inviting Texture

The Plasticiet studio used a special low-impact polymer, which acts as a plasticizer to preserve the material’s durability while providing a soft, tactile surface that encourages visitors to interact with it directly.

The Museum as a Lab for Sustainable Experimentation

This approach aligns with the broader goals of the London Design Festival, which places sustainable innovation at its core. In this way, the Bank of England Museum becomes a kind of laboratory for testing design solutions, where waste can be transformed into new possibilities that transcend traditional boundaries.

Visitor Experience as Part of a Broader Narrative

The project extends beyond the benches themselves, integrating into a comprehensive interactive program that includes short lunchtime lectures and curated material displays. In this way, the space becomes both an educational and cultural environment.

A Tangible Library of Sustainable Materials

Alongside the furniture, the Surface Matter team presented a series of recycled surface panels, creating a sensory library accessible to designers and the public. These panels are based on the historic color palettes of the bank building, reinforcing the connection between the past and heritage on one hand, and contemporary sustainability on the other.

Reimagining Value in Everyday Life

The accompanying lectures focused on rethinking the concept of value through material selection and methods of reuse. The project thus encourages participants to consider how sustainability can be integrated into their daily practices, whether in design or everyday life.

Heritage as a Platform for Renewal

In a city where historic institutions are known for their adherence to tradition, this project provides a living example of how heritage can become a platform for creativity.

A Dialogue on the Economics of Sustainability

By transforming withdrawn currency into public benches, the work does more than give discarded paper a new purpose, it opens the door to a broader conversation about sustainability and the circular economy.

Value as a Reconstructible Concept

Ultimately, these benches stand as a powerful visual reminder: value is not a fixed concept; it can be shredded, reshaped, and re-evaluated through creative intervention. Here, design becomes more than an aesthetic experience, it is a reflection on the very meaning of value itself.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The “Rebuilding Value” project offers an innovative design experience by transforming old currency into sustainable art benches, adding a visual and aesthetic dimension to the museum while stimulating reflection on recycling.

However, its practical application remains limited; reliance on specialized materials and a focus on symbolism may make it difficult to replicate in larger projects or multi-use urban environments. Its impact on the daily functionality of the space is also limited, despite its experimental value as a laboratory for sustainable design and the exploration of new possibilities in architecture.

Prepared by the ArchUp Editorial Team

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