Material Matters; Our top 5 picks

This week the studio visited Material Matters at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf as part of London Design Festival. The fair brought together world leading brands, designers, makers and innovators to investigate and celebrate the importance of materials and their ability to shape our lives.

We have put together a showcase of our top 5 picks. Happy reading!

Abalon

As a designer and sculptor, Ana's focus with Abalon is creating sustainable and eco-friendly products using locally sourced materials.

Abalon's display instantly attracted us due to the stunning combination of the gentle, warm lighting and the worn out interior. It was inspiring to witness how Ana's sketches progressed into the final products, which formed an integral part of the display.

At the fair, Ana showcased her latest collection of lighting sculptures. Conceived using biophilic design principles, her sculptures incorporate elements of nature to create a more harmonious and inviting environment. They are made with Corallo porcelain, which is an efficient and sustainable material that has a low carbon footprint.

Ana’s message and ethos are that her designs aim to improve the well-being and productivity of users by reducing stress, improving mood and increasing productivity. In our opinion, she’s hit the nail on the head.

Solidwool

Created with the ethos of taking the unwanted and turning it into something beautiful, Solidwool was started in 2013 with a vision to design without compromising the environment. Using hardy British fleece from ancient breeds, they make all of their products at their workshop in Devon.

Solidwool was our top exhibitor. We were really taken by the ethos and advancement of the material and its future potential. The visible fibres held the material in its original form, which was a welcome feature, paired with the unexpected texture that added to its beauty and uniquity.

Since 2020, Roger Oates Design have nurtured and developed the business, re-engineering the material and re-designing the Hembury Chair. Solidwool now contains twice the amount of wool, and half the volume of bio-resin, meaning this fascinating composite now has even more natural content. The company also uses ash legs, which are hand turned in Somerset, as well as a Black powder-coated recycled steel frame made in Peterborough.

The fleeces they use are from both the Welsh Mountain and Herdwick breed - plentiful, yet there is little demand for this coarse, robust and wiry wool elsewhere. Both breeds are native to the UK, and have been for centuries, so it is important to keep these sheep and their shepherds in the landscapes they belong.

Material Magic

Material Magic is a material research project led by designer, researcher and educator Jack Brandsma, in collaboration with Innovation Hub East-Groningen (IHOG) and Minerva Art Academy Groningen.

At the fair, Material Magic showcased their product prototypes made using hemp fibres, which are bound with either magnesium oxychloride (AKA sorel cement) or potato starch. These products are the result of experimentations Jack Brandsma and his students have undertaken in a bid to replace the synthetic materials used across the design industry.

I like the raw state of the material and its imperfect finish, which showed the process and had a workshop feel. Experimental, tactile.

They have already seen great success with a remake of the famous Gerrit Rietveld chair by Minerva student Eimert Fossen, and will continue their quest for new possibilities across the industry.

Pearson Lloyd

For over 25 years, Pearson Lloyd has designed functional, beautiful and efficient systems that serve the needs of clients, users and society. Working across multiple sectors, from healthcare to transport and workspace to architecture, the studio has produced a hugely varied body of work, navigating the rapidly evolving design landscape with innovation.

Today, Pearson Lloyd is one of London's most celebrated and accomplished studios, renowned for pre-empting changes in social and workplace behaviours, embracing developments in materials and manufacturing and navigating trends in a rapidly transforming world.

At Material Matters, Pearson Lloyd addressed how the clear and present threat to planetary health is forcing us to ask new questions and demand new answers for the way we make, distribute and consume products. A palpable energy was present at Person Lloyd’s exhibit which attracted a large, well-deserved audience. The fun and informative display was engaging and interactive. It focused on common items and how to make them more sustainable. It looked into problems and devised efficient solutions with the environment at its heart.

Mater

Founded in Copenhagen in 2006, Mater was created to be a pioneering global brand with sustainability embedded in its core. From the very beginning the ambition was to inspire a global design audience and engage people into sustainable thinking. Mater combines sustainability and circular production using waste, with timeless design, through collaboration with an external base of well-established and new design talents.

Designed for both commercial and residential use, Mater strives to avoid and minimise any adverse impact on society, by following ethical and sustainable production criteria and creating products that will both stand the test of time and inspire the consumer to cherish and savour them.

Matek, Mater’s collection of specially patented materials that combine specific fibres such as coffee bean shells and sawdust with recycled industrial plastic waste binders, particularly caught our attention. The mix of materials results in a unique compound suitable for press moulding - a well-known technique used in the furniture industry.

We love how Matek offers a unique tactility and materiality with features that resemble timeless materials like stone, terrazzo or even marble. The material offers opportunity for growth, combining new fibres that will diversify their offer.