How the BIG Growth Innovation Programme at London South Bank University (LSBU) helped Ella Doran Design put a figure on the sustainability story it was already living.
The challenge
Sustainability wasn't new to Ella Doran Design. The London studio, known for its home products range, had already built circularity into how it worked by reusing materials wherever possible and designing pieces to order rather than producing for stock.
What it lacked was a way to prove it. When customers asked what the environmental benefit of a bespoke, made-to-order piece was, the studio could describe its approach but couldn't put a number on it. It needed a tool that could turn genuine existing practice into something measurable and credible to share with clients.
The solution
The project built on an existing relationship between Ella Doran Design and LSBU, established through a prior collaboration, Shadescape, which had explored reusing pre- and post-consumer textiles in window shading products. Through the BIG Growth Innovation Programme, the studio was matched with Deborah Andrews, academic lead in design for sustainability and circularity, and Daniele di Paolo, research and teaching assistant in product design, supported by student Milena Shabani - all from LSBU's School of Engineering and Design.
Over 75 hours of academic collaboration, the team disassembled shading products from Ella Doran Design's own studio, measuring and recording every component by weight, dimension and material. The resulting materials inventory, combined with carbon factor data drawn from the Ansys Granta Edupack Eco Audit and Ecoinvent databases, became the foundation for an Excel-based embodied carbon calculator. It was built specifically around the studio's own products rather than a generic industry model. Progress was reviewed in monthly meetings between the academic team and the studio, and the tool was delivered within the agreed timeframe.
Results and impact
The calculator has provided Ella Doran Design with a new, fully functioning sustainability tool. The studio has begun using it directly with individual clients on bespoke commissions, walking each of them through the data as part of the design conversation itself. Because the business works closely with a small number of clients at a time rather than at volume, this hands-on use has already shown which parts of the data clients engage with most. This crucial insight is now shaping how the studio plans to present the tool more widely as it takes on further work.
"Working with LSBU gave me both a tool and an understanding I couldn't have developed on my own. I can now directly bring carbon literacy and life cycle thinking into client conversations. Unlike private consultancy, which would have been financially out of reach for a business my size, this was a genuine two-way collaboration where I could ask questions and understand the reasoning, not just receive a finished output."
Ella Doran, Founder, Ella Doran Design
The project successes have been confirmed as:
- Delivering a new-to-market product/process for the enterprise
- Supporting the adoption of a new or improved service
- Contributing to sustainability and estimated carbon dioxide equivalent reduction outcomes
- Improving the studio's marketing and sales approach and buyer relationships
Future plans
Ella Doran Design plans to make the calculator a standard part of every bespoke commission going forward, refining how it is presented to clients as the studio learns more from these early, close conversations. The studio has indicated it would welcome continued contact with LSBU as use of the tool develops.
Why it matters
"The academic team's expertise in design for sustainability, circularity, and life cycle assessment was central to this project. The collaboration model was particularly suited to the company's limited capacity, which would have made access to equivalent private consultancy financially out of reach."
Deborah Andrews, Academic Lead, School of Engineering and Design, LSBU
This project would not have proceeded without UKSPF funding. The BIG Growth Innovation programme provided the academic hours needed to for Ella Doran Design to progress. Without that support they would hnot have been able to evidence the environmental benefit of its circular design practice to clients - a gap that was becoming a real constraint on how the business could talk about its own work.
For LSBU, the collaboration extended live research in design for sustainability into a real-world commercial context and gave a student a meaningful placement in professional design practice.
About the programme
The BIG Growth Innovation Programme was delivered by LSBU with funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, administered by the greater London Authority. It connected South London businesses with academic expertise across four strategic clusters: health & life sciences, net zero & nature, experience & visitor economy, and creative & digital through structured, funded collaborations with LSBU and partner universities.
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This project was funded by the Mayor of London and UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). The aim of the UKSPF was to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.