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PROWL’s Regenerative Approach to Design
San Francisco design studio PROWL’s motto is ‘We Begin at the End,’ reflecting an approach that is focused on a product’s lifespan – not just its journey to the shelf.
There is a great shift in how we define sustainability. Designers are now faced with a broadened responsibility to consider what environmental interaction a product will have over its entire lifespan and not just the small window that it inhabits in our own lives. Perhaps no studio champions this ideology more than PROWL.
The San Francisco outfit is founded on the idea that the final destination of a product is far more important than its journey to the shelf – “a necessary shift in perspective to save people and the planet,” say co-founders Baillie Mishler and Lauryn Menard. PROWL’s collaborative and research-founded portfolio spans a wide range of industries, from automotive and lighting to furniture and packaging. Despite this variety, all its work starts with the same intention.
Fundamental to PROWL’s progressive design methodology is the belief that sustainability can no longer be “a multiple-choice option next to ‘business as usual.’” Instead, regenerative principles are the foundation of PROWL’s ideology, enacted with “clarity, intention and discipline” to bring forward practical solutions.
“By … aligning our education and skill sets with our values, we hope we can act as the example that we didn’t always have coming up in the field.”
Mishler and Menard break the mould of the industry, reshaping outdated industry standards as a necessary step to materialise a regenerative future. The male-dominated industrial design industry has left much to be desired in the way of female role models,” say the pair, who are proud to be a female-founded and -owned operation. “By following our passions and aligning our education and skill sets with our values, we hope we can act as the example that we didn’t always have coming up in the field.”
The sincerity of PROWL’s vision has given rise to a portfolio that is honest in intention without sacrificing aesthetics or practicality. In a world heaving under the weight of its own waste, PROWL makes hyper-conscious decisions about what to bring into the world. Sustainability must be underscored by useability, otherwise the object is better off not existing.
PROWL’s Gather table and stool, created in collaboration with Model No., tell the story of harmony between sustainability and practicality and how the two concepts are interwoven. “Sawdust generated from the milling of the table, often seen as waste and thrown out, was collected and compounded into the plant-based polymers used to 3D print the stools – a fully circular and waste-free case study for how we can create responsible furnishings.”
The materiality of PROWL’s work is also one of its most attractive qualities. The Peel chair, for instance, is designed to be industrially compostable, wrapped in a hemp-based bio-leather. The surface of the upholstery looks grown and organic, alive with the feeling that it is destined to return to the soil one day.
The locality of the studio is a constant driver of Mishler and Menard’s work. Having recently moved into the Pier 70 development in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighbourhood, PROWL is invigorated by being surrounded by others who are equally innovative and collaborative. “As designers and future-formers of the physical world, it is essential for us to be present in a space that fosters the collaborative nature of our work.”
