Dutch product design studio Waarmakers has launched the R16 lamp, an innovative and sustainable light fixture made from its own packaging.

The R16 light consists of a LED bulb housed in a laser cut cardboard tube, that serves as both the packaging that the light comes in and the light itself.
To assemble users simply pull away the pre-cut middle section of the tube, to reveal the LED light inside. The lamp is then suspended by a cord that is threaded through the tube and held in place by corks at either end. A pencil is then used to secure the light bulb.

Inspiration for the R16 came while Waarmakers founders Maarten Heijtjes and Simon Akkaya were working on another project, and found themselves overwhelmed with cardboard packaging for LED bulbs. Not wanting the material to be wasted, they looked at ways of repurposing the material, and the R16 lamp was born.
Maarten Heijtjes, Waarmakers co-founder, says: “Cardboard tubing is a strangely underrated material. Soft to the touch yet structurally strong. Quite distinct, as it is instantly recognisable, yet neutral in tone and form. R16 is our homage to this beautiful and versatile material.”

Heijtjes adds: “R16 challenges us to reconsider our views on the packaging materials we have around us.”