Material Stories

When architect Jonathan Mizzi took his young family to the Green School in Bali he wasn’t planning on building there. Feeling despondent at the rate of development in his birthplace of Malta where growth was coming at the cost of history, Jonathan needed a change of pace.

Set against the historic backdrop of Clerkenwell Green, the striking vaulted hyperbolic arches of Brick from a Stone: Arch Revival Pavilion formed an elegant centrepiece to the 2025 edition of Clerkenwell Design Week.

Today clay is experiencing a remarkable renaissance, establishing itself as an important part of the sustainable materials palette. This revival owes a great deal to Clayworks, the Cornwall-based company redefining the use of clay in contemporary design.

Thick stone walls, dense timber frames filled with straw, and packed-earth structures held in warmth through winter and repelled heat in the summer. These materials, raw, organic and local, were not chosen for their insulating properties alone but for their abundance and endurance.

“People love stone” says Gavin Johnston, founder of Stone Curators. He should know, his opinion is one based on years of working with likeminded and appreciative clients who have tasked Gavin with finding exactly the right stone for their projects.

Challenging current linear practices from extraction, to construction, to waste, Scottish startup Kenoteq is reimagining the brick by creating a climate conscious circular ecosystem.

In 2008, when Cuban American illustrator turned entrepreneur Katie Deedy founded wallpaper company Grow House Grow, the world had turned grey. Collectively, we were covering our walls in monochromatic colours. Katie was about to change all that

One evening, Simon was set to cook his hosts dinner. He opened a cutlery drawer to discover a pair of chopsticks. The chopsticks were unlike anything he’d seen before. Simon had discovered Tsugaru Nuri, a three-hundred-year-old Japanese lacquerware technique.

Sandberg Wallpaper was established in 1976 by the Sandberg family in Sweden, to create wallpapers and fabrics that blend classic designs with contemporary Scandinavian aesthetics.

Barnaby opened its doors in June 2024 and is pulling in the crowds with a range of beautifully displayed chocolate bars housed in an exquisite interior by architectural practice Built Works, designed in collaboration with Morrisstudio.

Terrazzo has a long history as a product of waste. It is in this vein that Foresso was created: transforming discarded wood into a durable and useful material that is built on circular design principles.

Alex de Rijke and his practice dRMM have extolled the virtues of working with wood since their formation in 1995. WorkStack, completed in 2024 and already winning awards, is an admirable example of how dRMM push the boundaries of what is possible with timber construction.