Sustainable alternatives in VM

We’ve been admiring Organoid® ever since they collaborated with Liberty on a beautiful window display – more on that here. Natural materials – everything from alpine hay, petals, moss and coffee – are mixed with an ecological binding agent and then pressed together into a thin layer. Organoid® surfaces are practically emissions-free, are manufactured in a CO2-neutral process and 100 % biodegradable.

Beauty really is in the detail here, with small petals and single leaves applied to surfaces manually. Surfaces can be sealed with conventional oils, varnishes or resin coating to ensure they are water, scratch, light and abrasion resistant.

The ultimate chameleon material, Jesmonite can replicate virtually any surface, colour or texture. Made from a mineral base and pure water based acrylic resin, it’s an eco-friendly alternative to resin, concrete or plaster. Mixed with other materials such as pigments, ink, metal fillers, to achieve different finishes, it is both durable and waterproof.

We used Jesmonite to create plinth stands at Levi’s sustainable concept space, Haus London – more on that here, and pictured above. The marbling effect gave the look of carrara marble in the brand’s on brand blue palette.

Re-board is a versatile and reasonably strong material. It’s particularly useful when print is used, for unusual shapes, or if construction is needed. It also requires very little energy to recycle.

We used reboard finished with a PVC-free vinyl to form the backdrop of Vivienne Westwood’s windows, pictured above.

Newspaper Wood reverses a traditional production process; not from wood to paper, but from (news)paper to wood. When a Newspaper Wood log is cut, the layers of paper appear like wood grain or growth rings of a tree and therefore resemble the aesthetics of real wood.

Benefits are plentiful. The material has already had an element of circularity and is created using relatively low emission. It is long lasting and not easily damaged. It also has a high quality finish.

This beautiful material may look like terrazzo but it’s actually made from wood chippings. Foresso is a relatively new material composed of timber, wood dust, cement, waste lime plaster, and 0% VOC resin cast onto an 18mm birch plywood substrate.

Foresso have put in place strict rules for their supply chain, sourcing only responsibly and ethically. It has a minimum 75% recycled material sourced from British trees and is FSC Certified. It’s also long wearing with a very high finish.

Greencast® is an extremely high-quality cast acrylic entirely made from 100% recycled consumer acrylic.

It’s the only 100% recycled plastic on the market that has the same qualities as normal acrylic. Comes in a range of different colours and thicknesses. It also takes back used material to be recycled to increase its circularity.

A more obvious one but not to be overlooked. Locally sourced reclaimed wood is highly circular and can be sourced from a number of not for profit organisations. It saves resources, it’s long lasting and can be easily locally sourced. It’s also highly versatile and different types can be used to inspire projects.

Take Levi’s CINCH store, pictured above, which Lucky Fox installed. Keen to re-use and recycle where possible, we repurposed wood previously used in the store to clad the walls into wood shelving.

Sustainable plywood can be made from a variety of different woods, with wood being a natural product from a renewable resource. It’s long lasting, very versatile and can be printed on. Recycled easily, it’s also cost effective.

This pop up in Selfridges, pictured above, was designed and installed by Lucky Fox. Sustainable plywood was used for the structure, meaning it’s durable, cost effective but also easily recyclable.

Bamboo fibres are particularly versatile and bamboo can grow without fertilizers or pesticides. Some bamboo materials are 100% biodegradable and the plant itself creates 35% more oxygen when compared to similar plants.

Cost effective and versatile, with a large majority of the materials being biodegradable. Some bamboo plastics have a biodegradable plastic composite too.

Terrazzo-effect Durat is a sustainable solid surface material which contains recycled post industrial plastic and is 100% recyclable. It can be made into seamless surfaces and can be refinished, making it perfect for high use areas like retail stores.

This incredibly versatile material formed the work tops for Levi’s concept space, which we collaborated on in 2020. More on that here.