Olah Side Table

£1,449.00 GBP

Size

The Olah—a simple Egyptian clay vessel, was never just an object. It was a quiet intelligence: a porous body that cooled water through breath, climate, and time. It held life, not through technology, but
through material awareness. A form shaped by necessity, yet elevated into cultural memory. Shell Homage begins in the same philosophy of transformation. Where the Olah worked with earth, Shell Homage works with food & agricultural waste, fragments once discarded, now reconstituted into a new bio-composite matter. Like clay, it is ground, bound, and reshaped. Like clay, it carries memory within its surface. Both materials share a quiet logic: nothing is added that does not belong, nothing is forced beyond its nature. In this lineage, Shell Homage is not a material innovation—it is a continuation of ancient intelligence. A reminder that sustainability was never an invention, but a forgotten practice. The multifunctional Olah table returns that logic to the present: where waste becomes matter, matter becomes form, and form becomes a vessel again—holding light, memory, and time.

A multifunctional side table that can also function as a vase. The tabletop is reversible and can be used as a tray or serving platter. The form is inspired by the Egyptian Olah, a symbolic object that functioned as more than a vessel—it was a system of quiet intelligence. Made from earth, it cooled water through porosity, climate, and time. A simple form, shaped by necessity and refined by nature. Shell Homage continues this lineage through a new material memory: egg and nut shell waste reformed into a bio-composite. Like clay, it is ground and reshaped. Like the Olah, it breathes with its environment. Our materials are relatively lightweight compared to marble or natural stones, and they possess non-repetitive, one-of-a-kind patterns and structures. We design carefully our materials & we consider ourselves agents for change. We fabricate, design, create , reform, reuse and redefine food
waste giving them an entirely new purpose.

Size: D40 X H45cm
Size: D35 X H52cm

Delivery and Returns

For your piece to arrive securely, a small fee has been added to the original price of this item for crating.

This piece is a custom order please allow 6 - 8 weeks delivery time from order date.

Returns are applicable for upto 14 days after delivery and only applies for noncustomized items.

About the Artist

Shell Homage

SHELL HOMAGE is a global award-winning sustainable brand specialized in bio-composite materials made from eggshells and various nut shells, in addition of transforming all kinds of food and agricultural waste into bio-composite materials for diverse applications and industries, while excelling in surface design, form, and function, founded by multidisciplinary Egyptian designer Rania Elkalla. This biodegradable material is a replacement for oil-based plastics and can be applied in several areas such as interior design, lighting design, furniture design, home accessories, consumable goods, 3D printing, fashion, and jewelry design.

The colors used come from different food and agricultural waste sources, including fruit and vegetable peels, herbs, and plants. SHELL stands for the diverse shells that we use, while HOMAGE represents honor and respect for their journey.

What sets SHELL HOMAGE apart is its use of food & agricultural waste. The food industry generates a significant amount of waste on a daily basis; around 30% of food is lost or wasted. We aim to contribute to waste reduction by innovating with SHELL HOMAGE materials that can be applied across various industries and scaled up. Our materials are relatively lightweight compared to marble or natural stones, and they possess non-repetitive, one-of-a-kind patterns and structures. Carefully designed, the materials position SHELL HOMAGE as an agent for change.

Through fabrication, design, creation, reform, reuse, and redefinition, food waste is given an entirely new purpose.

We perceive “waste” as one material being transformed into another. We see value in everything, and we aim to help others see that too.

Shell Homage exists at the intersection of material science, innovation, technology, craft, art, and design.

Shell Homage has been recognized with over 50 international awards and publications, including features by Reuters, Al Jazeera, TEDx, Vogue, Dezeen, ELLE Decor, Architonic, AD Middle East, CNBC and has been exhibited at Milan Design Week, London Design Festival, Dutch Design Week, and COP27/28. Our material samples are part of the material libraries at RISD, Harvard University, the Future Materials Bank and much more.

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