Brighton creator transforms boilers into furniture

Brighton-based creator Charis Williams, known as The Salvage Sister, used her metalworking skills to make a fully functioning household chair and electric table lamp from old gas boilers that had been replaced by heat pumps.

She spent 23 days on the creations as part of a partnership with eco tech company Aira.

Charis spent 23 days making the furniture (Image: Aira)

According to the Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 produced by UN Environment Programme, the amount of rubbish will increase by nearly two billion tonnes and hit 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. Aira and The Salvage Sister want the project to inspire further societal change in attitudes towards waste in general.

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Charis said the real challenge when producing her sculpture was ensuring the chair fixings were able to take the weight of an adult. She used specialist drills, welders, a rivet gun, reused nuts, bolts, piping and a sand blaster to clean the base of the lamp. In the future, the items will be on display at one of Aira’s clean energy-tech hubs.

The furniture is made out of old boilers (Image: Aira)

“Creating beautiful and useful items out of scrap, redundant parts and salvage is what I do, whether I’m making functional items like furniture and chandeliers or sculptures,” she said.

“I started working with scrap to highlight the epic amounts of usable materials being sent to landfill needlessly.

“When Aira asked me if I could make furniture from old boilers, I knew it would be a challenge, for a start - I wasn’t sure what I’d find inside, other than pipework. 

Charis at her workshop sitting on the chair (Image: Aira)

“But I love a challenge and if anyone could make this happen… it was going to be me. I jumped at the chance to work with Aira, we have the same ethos, and I love their Scandi style.

“I hope that my work inspires others to think outside the box, get creative and make unique things from discarded items.  Not only will it save our planet - but they’ll also have a fabulous time doing it.”

The furniture (Image: Aira)

Aira launched the campaign to promote the benefits of switching to a heat pump and to show how disused gas boilers can be used.

The company said switching to a heat pump can reduce CO2 by at least 75 per cent and could help customers save 20 per cent on their heating costs and £500 on annual energy bills on average, when combined with the Aira Zero tariff.

Charis Williams (Image: Aira)

Pamela Brown, chief marketing officer of Aira Group, said: “Switching to a heat pump and ditching a gas boiler is needed on many fronts – to help people reduce heating bills as we head into winter and importantly to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from heating, which contributes to almost one third of the UK’s annual carbon footprint.

"With this partnership, we want to show how symbols of pollution and environmental damage, such as gas boilers, can be transformed and given a new lease of life as household items that we can all enjoy. We see the sculptures as lasting reminders of the potential to rebuild our society, to help us create a cleaner, more climate-friendly future.”