The upcoming Stone & Surfaces Show, taking place at ExCeL London from 12–14 May, will broaden its programme with a series of talks, films and presentations examining how material choices shape architecture, construction and the wider built environment.

The cross-disciplinary line-up, spanning architects, manufacturers, designers and safety specialists, reflects the increasingly complex decisions facing specifiers working with natural stone, engineered materials and emerging surface technologies.

Architect Amin Taha of Groupwork opens the Main Stage programme with a keynote titled Let’s Get Stoned. His address will explain how stone and timber hybrid structures create carbon-negative buildings, which can allow the construction sector to reduce the 40% contribution to global carbon emissions that it currently produces, and can instead become a carbon-sequestration industry.

OfficeS&M

The theme continues with a session dedicated to cork as a renewable construction material. Writer and editor Rob Fiehn leads a discussion bringing together Catrina Stewart of Office S&M, Osman Marfo-Gyasi of Scott Whitby Studio and Bárbara Pinto Ribeiro of Amorim Cork Solutions. The panel will explore cork’s cellular structure, examining how the material combines thermal and acoustic performance with low embodied carbon and growing relevance in contemporary flooring and wall systems.

Circularity remains a central concern across the show. Our own editor, Jim Biddulph, chairs What is the Future of Circularity?, bringing together Conor Taylor of Low Carbon Industrial, architect Jess Rostron from Orms and Tim Matthews of Reultilize. Discussion will focus on reuse platforms, standardised sizing and whether the industry must fundamentally rethink specification practices to reduce waste.

Foresso

Another panel, The Reputational Risk of the Race to the Bottom, addresses growing concern over declining material standards. Speakers including Ross Williamson of The Surface Collection by Thomas Group, Andy Phillips of the Worktop Fabricators Federation and kitchen designer Faye Newman will examine how low-cost sourcing and unregulated labour can undermine safety, quality and long-term performance.

In the Architects’ Theatre, technical specification takes centre stage. Jan Lukaszewski from QUALICOAT UK & Ireland presents Futureproofing Buildings – Failure is Not an Option, highlighting the consequences of incorrect powder coating specification.

Meanwhile, Mike Calcutt of the Health and Safety Executive delivers a session addressing the risks associated with engineered stone dust, reinforcing the industry’s ongoing focus on health and safety in fabrication environments.

Adam Nathaniel Furman

Beyond technical discussion, the Surfaces Cinema explores the cultural and visual dimension of materiality. Designer Adam Nathaniel Furman presents Chromatic Delight and Productive Exuberance, celebrating colour and ceramic craftsmanship, while digital material library ARCHITEXTURES screens Materials in Motion, a series examining regional material production in Scotland.

Photography and film also feature prominently, with presentations from architectural photographers Ivan Jones and Andy Stagg, alongside films curated by award-winning filmmaker Edward Bishop exploring sustainable schools, pavilion construction and model-making craft.

Andy Stagg

Divisional director Sam Patel, underlines how the expanded programme aims to reflect the full lifecycle of materials, “From forward-looking panel discussions on the Main Stage to immersive films, photography and expert-led talks at the Surfaces Cinema and accredited CPDs in the Architects’ Theatre, the programme highlights the range and versatility of surface materials and examines how they can have an impact all the way down the supply chain.”

Co-located with UK Construction Week London and FutureBuild, the exhibition forms part of what organisers describe as a built environment “Super Event”, bringing together sustainability, construction and surface specification under one roof.

To register for The Stone & Surfaces Show for free, visit https://forms.reg.buzz/ukcw-london-and-stone-show-2026/pr

Set across two hilltops in the Maremma countryside of southern Tuscany, Ercolina marks the first Italian project by London-based practice McLean Quinlan. The private residential estate demonstrates a design approach grounded in landscape, vernacular precedent and the careful use of local materials.

Located near Magliano in Toscana, the 30-hectare site comprises olive groves, long coastal views set across rolling hillside terrain overlooking the Orbetello lagoon and Monte Argentario peninsula. Rather than treating the landscape as a backdrop, the architects began with an extensive masterplanning exercise, analysing topography, orientation and existing vegetation before determining the placement of buildings.

The estate replaces an unremarkable farmhouse and scattered ruins with three new structures: a Tower, a Barn, and a guest house, positioned approximately 150 metres apart. Overall, the property has some grandeur, with some eleven en-suite bedrooms, two fully equipped kitchens, ample outdoor spaces for entertaining, along with an infinity pool, tennis court, and tasting rooms. But the building’s distribution across the hills reflects a sensitively considered dispersed settlement pattern typical of rural Tuscany, allowing each building to respond individually to light, the prevailing breeze, and stunning views across the countryside, while maintaining a tasteful presence within the wider landscape.

Material selection has played a central role in anchoring the new architecture to the site. Stone walls were constructed using material extracted directly from the surrounding location, reducing transport while reinforcing visual continuity with surrounding farm buildings and historic settlements. Shallow terracotta roofs, traditionally arched openings and locally sourced tiles further embed the project within regional construction language and create a sense of familiarity and longevity.

Indeed, rather than pursuing a contemporary contrast, the architects have adopted familiar construction techniques to create buildings that appear settled within the landscape. The principal residence occupies the footprint of a former chicken coup, preserving mature olive trees. Terraces, traditional Italian loggias and shaded outdoor rooms blur the threshold between interior and exterior, allowing daily life to unfold in response to climate and season. As director Kate Quinlan explains, while the project is the team’s first in Italy, it reflects a “long-held interest in craft, landscape and context,” with design decisions made “in response to the site’s topography, climate and impressive views,” as well as surrounding architecture.

With its additional height and elegant form, the Tower forms the estate’s most recognisable element. Its slender vertical profile references the defensive towers and hilltop landmarks found across central Italy, including the defensive walls and towers of nearby Magliano. Arched openings and carefully proportioned windows draw from regional precedent while accommodating contemporary expectations for light and openness. The ongoing curved geometries subtly echo local masonry traditions, once again, softening the building’s presence within the terrain.

On the neighbouring hill, the Barn and guest house adopt a lower, more horizontal character. The guest house operates as an informal social hub oriented towards southern views, while the Barn supports ongoing olive oil production alongside flexible event and leisure uses, thus linking the architecture to working agricultural traditions rather than treating the estate solely as a retreat.

Interior concepts were developed with Italian designer Tommaso Ziffer alongside Studio GAA Architects, later refined by a Spanish interior design studio. Antique furnishings, frescoed doors and textured finishes introduce layers of history without dominating the amazing views or distracting from the unique light quality found within. Landscape design was developed alongside the architecture in collaboration with Studio Baccari and designer Gaia Chaillet Giusti, reinforcing the project’s ambition to evolve as a unified environment rather than a collection of standalone buildings.

The estate reads as a small settlement with buildings carefully positioned in dialogue with one another and with the surrounding agricultural landscape. By working with local stone, traditional construction methods, and landscape-led planning, Ercolina demonstrates how new architecture can reinforce regional identity while accommodating modern living, allowing material and place to shape the architecture as much as design intent itself.

While the ongoing news cycle may feel like a perpetual poke in alternate eyes, there are stories unfurling in the world of design, and materiality in particular, that offer moments of hope for the future.

In recent years, designers have become more attuned to how the spaces they create affect both the people who use them, and, ultimately, the planet. The way sound and temperature interact within an interior plays a key role in this transition, as does the life cycle of the materials used to produce them. 

Developed by Dutch designer Rik Maarsen, Compostboard is an acoustic panel made entirely from plant fibres. Produced from locally sourced renewable fibres bonded with a natural sugar-based adhesive, the panels avoid synthetic layers, foams or chemical binders common to conventional acoustic systems. 

While the panels don’t fall into the biomimicry camp, their acoustic performance still relies on the inherent structure of plant fibres. Their porous composition absorbs ambient sound while remaining breathable, helping regulate humidity and contribute to a healthier indoor environment. Rather than applying technology onto a surface, Compostboard allows the material itself to perform acoustically, as if relying on an inherent, natural technology of sorts.

All raw materials are sourced within a 200km radius of manufacture, reinforcing the project’s emphasis on regional supply chains and reduced transport impact. Each square metre reportedly stores around 7kg of CO₂, which is dramatically more than conventional plasterboard and notably lower in embodied carbon than synthetic felt acoustic panels.  

The boards have a very raw aesthetic, not totally unlike that of actual compost materials, although the product name owes more to the fact that they are compostable. Seasonal flower patterns pressed into the surface create limited-edition batches linked to agricultural cycles, giving each panel subtle variation and a clear material narrative. Equally, at the end of use, they can be easily recycled into new boards or reused as design elements. 

The result is a surface that combines acoustic comfort with ecological intent. As the interiors sector continues to reassess material lifecycles, Compostboard joins a new generation of surfaces that may not only reduce impact, but actively participate in ecological renewal, while improving the feel of the space it is intended for.

At a time when construction is under pressure to reduce embodied carbon without compromising performance, Amsterdam-based materials platform FRONT has positioned itself as a supplier capable of bringing the gap between innovation and practical application.

Founded to connect emerging material technologies with architects, contractors and developers, the company works directly with manufacturers developing alternatives to conventional construction products. The result is a curated portfolio built around waste streams, bio-based resources and circular production, and a notable step, if not leap, in the right direction.

Rather than developing products itself, FRONT operates through partnerships, helping to translate laboratory-style innovation into viable building materials supported by certification, technical guidance and project delivery experience. Its growing catalogue demonstrates that sustainability aims for the built environment can be supported by material applications, as underlined by one of the most recent additions developed with the biotechnology company Biomason.

Inspired by coral formation, Mimmik tiles are produced using microbial mineralisation rather than kiln-fired cement production. The science behind the range almost sounds like a passage from Sci-fi fiction, with bacteria binding aggregates together through Biomason’s Zymecrete™ process, which forms calcium carbonate without the extreme temperatures associated with conventional cement manufacture.

It is, in fact, based entirely on reality, and a refreshing read when considering that concrete remains the most widely used construction material globally, while its production accounts for an estimated 8% of worldwide CO₂ emissions. As a bio-concrete product, Mimmik achieves around 60% lower emissions while reaching structural strength in roughly 40 hours instead of the typical 28-day curing period. 

What’s more, because the material crystallises rather than curing into standard grey cement, colours derive naturally from local aggregates, allowing the new architectural surfaces to reflect regional geology, and break away from the often oppressive uniformity and ubiquity of concrete. What would Le Corbusier say? To add to this, hidden within the surface, carbon contained in raw materials remains locked into the crystalline structure rather than being released during firing.

Mimmik fits neatly into a growing portfolio that is already bringing eco-conscious materials to market, many of which are turning the tide on waste. WasteBasedBricks, produced with manufacturing partner DC Bricks, incorporate at least 60% recycled waste, diverting approximately 91kg of waste per square metre of façade. To add to this, lower firing temperatures of around 200°C below industry norms reduce production energy demand by up to 40%. Much like Mimmik, natural colour variation comes baked in, in this case from the waste mix itself, which avoids the need to add pigments.

Similarly, Skip Tiles also utilise construction and demolition waste. Mixed mineral residues are reprocessed by UK manufacturer, Alusid, into durable tiles. As with all of these circular mineral-based products, the range demonstrates how materials commonly destined for landfill can return to the built environment as finished architectural surfaces, and subtly but effectively help to tell new planet-first narratives.

As well as minerals, the FRONT portfolio tackles other forms of industrial or post-consumer waste. As the name suggests, Pretty Plastic Panels are developed from recycled PVC. In this case, the plastic in question comes from window frames, which are transformed from difficult-to-recycle plastic streams into façade cladding systems suitable for exterior use. The beauty here is that panels retain the durability of PVC while allowing for more colourful creations that reimagine its environmental impact through reuse.

Turning to interior applications, Paper Waste Panels repurpose paper industry by-products into rigid sheet materials suitable for interiors, furniture and wall finishes, replacing virgin board products with compressed recycled fibres. Crisp, graphic incisions are pressed into the panels into satisfyingly repeated patterns, adding a subtle texture that creates light and shadow on the elegant, unmistakably papery surface.

Meanwhile, CornWall acoustic panels utilise agricultural waste derived from corn production. The interior wall finish is made using the cores of regionally sourced corn cobs that would otherwise be burned, fermented or left as agricultural waste. The resulting plant-based biomass locks in carbon absorbed during crop growth, resulting in a climate-positive profile in which more CO₂ is stored than emitted during manufacture. Supplied as precision-made panels with a demountable anchoring system rather than adhesive fixing, it is conceived for circular use. Bio-coated for moisture resistance and available in pigmented colourways, CornWall offers a firm, durable surface comparable in performance to HPL or hardwood while remaining thinner and suitable for CNC milling.

Having delivered more than 170 projects across 17 countries and achieving B Corporation certification already, FRONT reflects a broader shift within the materials sector: innovation increasingly emerges from interdisciplinary collaboration rather than traditional manufacturing alone. Watch this space for more!

The restoration of the Seafarers’ Chapel floor at Bristol Cathedral has been recognised with a Church Transformation Award, highlighting a project that combines sensitive stone conservation with improved accessibility within a significant historic setting.

Delivered by Cliveden Conservation in collaboration with Nick Cox Architects and the Cathedral team, the works formed part of a wider programme aimed at making the building more welcoming and accessible while preserving its historic fabric. The award will be formally presented at the 2026 Church Transformation Awards ceremony in May.
 

The 14th-century Seafarers’ Chapel contains an important collection of ledger stones and wall monuments, but decades of wear had left the floor uneven and difficult to navigate. The project sought to resolve these practical challenges without losing the character and historical integrity of the space.

A spokesperson for the Cathedral said improving access was central to the scheme. “Transforming access in the Cathedral is a key priority for us as we work to ensure the building is open and welcoming to all,” they said. “The Seafarers’ Chapel floor was the first step, and we were really pleased with the result.”

Cliveden Conservation was appointed to undertake the principal phase of stone repairs alongside the conservation of marble memorial tablets. The approach prioritised retention wherever possible. Large historic ledger slabs were conserved in situ, while decayed Pennant sandstone paving was carefully lifted and replaced using Forest of Dean Pennant sandstone sourced from Barnhill Quarry to match the original material.

Each replacement stone was set out and cut precisely to align with the historic floor pattern, ensuring continuity across old and new work. According to Tom Flemons, director and Bath workshop manager at Cliveden Conservation, maintaining that balance proved central to the project’s success.

“This was a collaborative process involving masons, conservators and the wider client team,” he said. “The challenge was maintaining the character of the floor while renewing well over one hundred individual stones.”

The dismantling phase was carried out under an archaeological watching brief, revealing previously unrecorded burial vaults beneath the chapel floor. The intervention also allowed the discreet installation of new acoustic and audio cabling, demonstrating how conservation projects increasingly integrate modern infrastructure within historic environments.

Accessibility improvements were also a driving factor behind the project. The floor was levelled and new stone, steel and oak ramps introduced, including a new ramp providing step-free access to the Lady Chapel and improved circulation routes between the North Choir aisle and Choir.

Kathryn Harris, Cathedral Architect at Nick Cox Architects, said the scheme required “expert craftsmanship to sensitively level new stone slabs around existing monuments, which were conserved in situ”. She added that the permanent access routes represent “an important step forward in the Cathedral’s vision to make this historic building accessible for everyone”.
The award recognises not only the quality of workmanship but also the evolving role of conservation projects within ecclesiastical buildings. Increasingly, heritage stonework schemes are expected to deliver inclusivity, functionality and long-term sustainability alongside traditional repair.

For Bristol Cathedral, the Seafarers’ Chapel restoration demonstrates how careful material selection, skilled masonry and collaborative conservation can renew historic spaces while ensuring they continue to serve contemporary congregations and visitors alike.

As we’ve been reporting, the industry has been moving into a period of increased scrutiny of fabrication environments, particularly around dust management, workforce protection and demonstrable operating standards.

The Worktop Fabricators Federation (WFF) has introduced a new Quality Mark scheme intended to raise professional, operational and health-and-safety standards across the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom (KBB) fabrication sector.

Developed through industry collaboration and informed by occupational hygiene research, the initiative establishes a structured framework through which fabrication businesses can benchmark working practices, demonstrate compliance and pursue continuous improvement.

During a recent WFF industry meeting, Kevin Bampton, chief executive of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), addressed members on the importance of embedding occupational hygiene principles into everyday fabrication processes, highlighting the role consistent standards can play in improving safety outcomes across the sector.

WFF operations officer Nigel Fletcher underlines that the Quality Mark is intended to provide a clear reference point for clients and specifiers assessing fabrication competence. He said the programme establishes “a clear benchmark for professionalism, safety and operational excellence,” while rewarding businesses that invest in best practice and workforce protection.

The federation is encouraging KBB designers and specifiers to work with fabricators able to demonstrate recognised standards and independent assessment, reflecting wider industry moves towards transparency and accountability within supply chains.

Under the new scheme, WFF members will be classified across a three-tier membership structure:

• Provisional Status –  Businesses working to improve processes, build standardisation, and develop operational capacity, supported by WFF mentoring and guidance.
• Approved Member – Companies demonstrating strong systems, proactive management, and reliable performance metrics.
• Audited Member – Best-in-class operators demonstrating continuous improvement and industry-leading practices, independently inspected by a BOHS auditor in addition to WFF assessment.

While only audited companies will be permitted to display the official Quality Mark, WFF says the tiered approach is designed to encourage progression rather than create barriers to entry, allowing businesses to improve processes while working towards independently verified best practice.

Several member companies have contributed to the development of the framework, including PWS Distribution Ltd, Bellagio Stone Ltd, Natural Stone Surfaces Ltd, Granite Tops (UK) Ltd, The Quartz Worktop Company Ltd and Stone System of London Ltd, which collaborated with scientific and industry stakeholders during development.

The federation believes the Quality Mark will help improve consistency across fabrication businesses while supporting safer working environments and strengthening confidence among specifiers and clients commissioning KBB worktop installations.

For some, olives are not a food group that the palate ever quite grows to appreciate. 

For those of us who can’t get enough of them, there is that slightly peculiar trade-off, where intense flavour and enjoyment are offset by the need to dispose of the hard stone within. And perish the thought of accidentally biting down on one.

As the search for lower-impact surface materials continues to push designers beyond convention, one ingenious Cypriot company has seized on those surplus pits as a means to produce a solid surface for the built environment.  

Pit-To-Table reframes the by-product at an agricultural scale with its bio-composite, Pit Board. The panels come in a standardised 18mm-thickness, and are manufactured without the need for a secondary substrate. The company states that at least 60% of the material content comes from agricultural waste, positioning it within a growing category of plant-based construction products aimed at reducing reliance on petrochemical binders and virgin resources.

The olive pits are graded through an industrial sieve into four sizes, producing a varied surface texture that reads differently depending on light and distance. Up close, the material reveals a dense, tactile field of fragments. Rather than treating waste as filler, the pits themselves become the visible aggregate, giving the board a granular, almost terrazzo-like appearance, but with a softer, more organic feel.

Developed in Cyprus, Pit Board draws on the by-products of olive cultivation, a long-standing agricultural industry across the Mediterranean. By redirecting what would otherwise be discarded organic matter into construction, the material connects local waste streams with global design supply chains.

Stone façades at two prominent buildings within Durham’s UNESCO World Heritage Site have undergone extensive conservation and repair following the completion of a major heritage project led by Classic Masonry.

Appointed by main contractor Vest Construction, the specialist masonry firm carried out façade repairs to Cosin’s Almshouses and the neighbouring Pemberton Building at Palace Green, addressing significant weathering, structural cracking and long-term water ingress while preserving the historic character of the Grade II listed buildings.

Constructed in 1666 by Bishop John Cosin on the site of a former 15th-century grammar school, Cosin’s Almshouses were originally created to house clergy widows. The adjoining Pemberton Building, designed by W.D. Caroe and completed in 1929, is home to the Durham Union Society, one of the world’s oldest student debating societies. 

Commissioned by Durham University as part of its Non-Residential Refurbishment Programme, the £1.8million scheme included stone repairs, sensitive repointing of eroded masonry and the replacement of three carved entrance plaques. Archaeological monitoring undertaken during the works revealed 17th-century foundations and a probable medieval culvert, underlining the complexity of working within a historically layered site.

Gavin Vest, managing director at Vest Construction, said: “We were delighted to have been appointed again by Durham University to deliver such a significant heritage project. Cosin’s Almshouses and the Pemberton Building are not only central to the city’s historic skyline but also hold deep cultural and academic importance.” He added that Classic Masonry’s conservation expertise was “invaluable to ensuring the façades are returned to their former glory, preserving their architectural detail for generations to come.”

The masonry package involved careful repair of deteriorated stonework alongside targeted replacement where decay had become irreversible. Classic Masonry managing director Mike Moody highlighted that the entrance plaques required particularly specialist intervention. “The three existing entrance plaques were in such a poor state of disrepair that… replacement was required for various sections of these historic features,” he said. “Classic Masonry undertook extensive traditional hand carving at our workshops… showcasing the exceptional craftsmanship and talents of our carver masons.”

Sustainability formed part of the conservation strategy, with sound roof flags salvaged and reused to minimise material waste. What’s more, close collaboration between conservation officers, consultants and construction teams ensured minimal disruption to university operations while maintaining strict heritage requirements.

The project marks the fourth Palace Green scheme delivered by Vest Construction over seven years, with Classic Masonry engaged on two projects requiring specialist stonemasonry expertise. It’s proving to be a busy period for Classic Masonry, having carried out extensive restoration of churches in the North East, as well as helping Sunderland City Council to landscape Riverside Park.

Once home to more than 1,000 people, The Cabrach’s population has dwindled to less than 100 today. Located on the high boundary between West Aberdeenshire and Speyside, at the heart of Historic Banffshire, the rural estate has experienced decades of decline.

But one recently completed architectural project represents a visual indicator of change in the area, led by a group of passionate local residents. Having come together in 2013 to create The Cabrach Trust, the team has produced a portfolio of projects including cultural events, nature recovery initiatives, rural skills and wellbeing workshops, as well as employing the services of Scottish practice Collective Architecture to design The Cabrach Distillery.

The development transforms the ruined 1849 steadings at Inverharroch Farm into a working single-malt whisky distillery — the first legal whisky production in the area for more than 170 years. Nestled on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park, the area was once a hotbed of Jacobite rebels and smugglers, as well as local farmers, many of whom sought to supplement their minimal livelihoods by producing ‘Uisge Beatha’, or ‘ Water of Life’...also known as Whisky.

Rather than operating solely as a visitor attraction, the distillery forms the economic centrepiece of a long-term strategy to stabilise and repopulate this remote Highland community.  The architectural approach begins with repair rather than replacement. Existing stone steadings, deeply embedded in the agricultural history of the landscape, were carefully retained and adapted, allowing the project to grow directly from the site’s inherited fabric. Weathered masonry walls were consolidated and reused wherever possible, maintaining the character and layout of the original farm buildings while accommodating contemporary production requirements.

Reclaimed stone from nearby derelict structures supplements retained masonry, which provides thermal stability well-suited to distilling and maturation processes. But the decision is an aesthetic one too, ensuring continuity of colour and texture, which visually anchors the distillery within the surrounding landscape. Sustainable timber sourced from local forests complements the stone construction, reinforcing an approach rooted in local resources and traditional building knowledge rather than imported systems. The resulting architecture feels grounded, its mass and permanence responding naturally to the exposed Highland environment.

Operated as a community-owned social enterprise, the distillery reinvests future revenues into local housing, employment opportunities and environmental initiatives, ensuring the building functions as long-term infrastructure rather than a singular architectural gesture. What’s more, extensive landscape works, tree planting and new walking routes extend the project beyond the building itself, positioning the distillery as part of a wider ecological and social regeneration effort.

The Cabrach has a long association with whisky production, both legal and illicit, and re-establishing whisky making in the area, therefore, reconnects the community to its cultural history rather than introducing an entirely new industry. Jonathan Christie, Chief Executive of The Cabrach Trust, describes the emotive impact: “The idea of a Single Malt Scotch Whisky distillery, operated as a social enterprise, housed within a once ruinous historic steading, anchoring the regeneration of a proud rural community, is an idea that’s easy to get misty eyed about.”

For Collective Architecture, the project demonstrates how reuse-led construction can support both environmental responsibility and social resilience. Working within an existing stone framework allowed the architects to prioritise longevity, repair and material continuity over novelty. The architecture avoids spectacle, instead achieving presence through restraint: repaired masonry, robust agricultural forms and carefully judged contemporary interventions.

Further phases, including a heritage centre and café, will expand the site’s public role, but the distillery already illustrates a wider lesson for the industry. Low-carbon construction is often less about new materials than about recognising the value of those already in place. At The Cabrach, stone functions simultaneously as structure, memory and future investment — a material capable of carrying both history and community forward. Slàinte to that!

All images © Susie Lowe

While the exhibition What Lasts Doesn’t Always Hold Shape may have drawn to a close following a run at Hypha Gallery, 1 Poultry, London, the impact of the work on display and the rousing presentations and debates it stirred can still be felt. 

Indeed, while the event has reached its natural conclusion and ended, one standout discussion organised by Material Index underlined the importance of responsibility, reuse, and, notably, permanence within the built environment. 

Set among the sculptural works, which explored material memory and impermanence, the discussion extended the team’s ongoing work and brought together architects, engineers, artists and material specialists to consider an all-important but seemingly overlooked question within the industry: what happens to materials when buildings reach the end of their lives?

Following an introduction from curator Rebecca Jak, Olivia Daw, Product Lead at Material Index, framed the evening around this central question, while adding another drawn from the exhibition: what is allowed to last? The prompt shifted discussion away from demolition as an endpoint and towards the decisions, knowledge and detailing required to enable reuse.

The conversation was led by Bora Malko (Material Index), Katie May Boyd (Studio Tip), Tom Hesslenberg (Elliott Wood Engineers) and Laura Mohirta (Barr Gazetas). Participants reflected on the increasing emphasis placed on retaining structures in situ, while acknowledging the practical challenges that emerge when materials must be removed, assessed and reintroduced elsewhere. What appears straightforward conceptually quickly reveals structural, contractual and logistical complexity.

Another recurring theme was visibility: can reclaimed material be recognised as such, or does reuse remain largely invisible within finished architecture? The question highlighted how aesthetic expectations often sit uneasily alongside circular ambitions. Data and accountability also surfaced repeatedly, with perhaps more questions asked than answered, reflecting a broader issue within the industry. Who holds accurate records of what a building is made from? Who signs off on reused components? The key problem that remains being that without a clear transfer of material information, viable elements risk becoming waste. As Malko asked the room: “When you design something, how often do you think about specifying something reclaimed instead of something new?” 

For Material Index, the event reflects a wider ambition to normalise reuse within everyday specification practice. Through its construction marketplace for reclaimed materials, the team hopes that conversations around deconstruction are no longer theoretical but become fundamental to changing industry behaviour. As Daw explains, the organisation “is actively bridging the gap between buildings coming down and buildings going up, making it easier for designers and specifiers to sell, donate and source reclaimed materials and put them back into new projects.”  

The conversation around deconstruction isn't abstract for the team and is what informs how Material Index builds the tools and relationships needed to make reclamation viable at scale. As Daw stresses, “the more the industry can be brought into honest conversation about these friction points, the closer we get to a built environment where more is saved, more is reused, and less is lost.”