Material Matters, Oxo Tower, Barge House Street, London (2026)

13/10/2026

The programme for Assemble with Material Matters has been announced. The one-day event, held in association with Thought Leadership Partner Berghaus will take place on 19 November at Pentland Brands HQ in Farringdon, London.

The opening keynote address comes from New York- and London-based curator, writer and historian, who promises to kick proceedings off by exploring the importance of material intelligence across design, art, music, and other forms of making, with craft front and centre. Meanwhile, later in the afternoon, the brilliant will talk about her career at the intersection of biotechnology, design, and systems change.

There will be panels on topics such as why the future will be grown and how to industrialise a brilliant material idea, as well as a quick-fire showcase from a string of wonderful emerging designers – such as Blast Studio Carbon Cell Micaella Pedros and Jacob Marks

Not only that, but if you enjoy the Material Matters podcast there’s an opportunity to watch a live episode as Grant interviews British design legend, Jay Osgerby Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?

You don’t have long to purchase an early bird ticket at £114 (incl VAT). They are available until 19 October 2026. Thereafter standard tickets will be £150 (incl VAT). A limited number of student tickets are available for £72 incl VAT. Check our bio for more information.

We are very much looking forward to seeing you there.

14/09/2026

Just to remind you that Material Matters London is opening tomorrow. It runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch and is part of Shoreditch Design Week.

There’s loads to look out for. Berghaus, our official Thought Leadership Partner, will be leading our Cafe Conversations talks series for instance. And, you’ll be glad to hear, the Negroni Talks from architecture practice Fourth Space will also return on 16 September at 6pm.

Elsewhere, there are fascinating features from the likes of Made with Love (image 3 Olivia Webb Design ) Studio Gonzalo Bascuñan (image 2), Zieta Studio (image 5), Useful Totem (image 1 Alexie Sommer ) and PaniJurek (image 4) to name just a handful. The Material Matters bookshop will also be popping up.

We could go on. Frankly, it’s a very long list of extraordinary people doing fascinating things – check out our website for more details.

Material Matters London is free to attend for trade but it’s vital you register first (see link in bio).

11/09/2026

There is a plethora of talent – some of it emerging, some definitely emerged – on the first floor of Material Matters London.

Based in Accra, The Or Foundation for instance, works at the intersection of environmental justice, material innovation and fashion. It takes waste textiles – often dumped on Ghana by the West – and transforms the fibres into a solid material. (Image 2)

Sunday Light combines lighting design, optical engineering and circadian science to deliver daylight-level illumination that supports sleep, mood, energy and cognitive performance. (Image 3)

Benchspace.uk is building a new model for the modern workshop. At the fair, it recreates a working workshop environment centred around a communal workbench. (Image 4)

exploring consumerism is the practice of glass artist and designer Frederik Rombach, which transforms waste materials into collectible lighting and sculpture. He is collaborating with British glass artist and engineer Gregory Alliss to show Rebroadcast, a collection made from obsolete Cathode Ray Tube television screens. (Image 5)

Based in India and Slovakia, Malai Biomaterials creates textiles, objects and surfaces from bacterial cellulose fermented on waste water from mature coconuts. (Image 6)

Helena Williams creates furniture and lighting that place longevity at the centre of the design process. She shows a modular furniture system that combines bent steel tube frames, precision-engineered aluminium connectors, and replaceable leather components. The collection eliminates permanent fixings in favour of reusable connections. (Image 7)

David Colwell Design is a pioneer of environmentally conscious design. He brings together recent work with important pieces from his archive.

Finally, Zuriya Wang, has developed Loomyco, an edible biocomposite soft toy designed to make pet enrichment safer, zero-waste and more fulfilling… Bet you weren’t expecting that. (Image 8)

Material Matters London runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch. Entrance is free but it’s vital you register in advance (see link in bio). See you very soon.

10/09/2026

The latest episode of the Material Matters podcast contains two firsts. It’s the first time a guest has returned to the show and it’s the first you can watch, rather than just listen.

The last time Dublin-based architect John Tuomey appeared on Material Matters in 2024 it was to talk about his brilliant memoir, First Quarter. Now he’s written the follow-up, unsurprisingly entitled, Middle Quarter.

John is the co-founder of O'Donnell + Tuomey He was the inaugural professor of Architectural Design at University College Dublin and visiting professor at Princeton, Harvard and Yale. Over the years, he has won numerous awards, including the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, and his practice is responsible for buildings such as V&A East, the Lyric Theatre Belfast, and the Glucksman Gallery in Cork.

In this episode, he talks about: this year’s opening of V&A East Museum; material as ‘tangible reality’ in architecture; why he wrote his new book (and why it isn’t a biography); being interested in mortality and melancholy; architecture and ‘endurance’; his relationship with his mother (and her friendship with film star Richard Harris); the purpose of poetry and the purpose of architecture; creating buildings with lasting value; being ‘lucky’ and working the way he wants; failure; the importance of music in his life; architecture as an ‘occasional art’; his inner drive; being drawn to the scared; oh and telling Michael Graves to ‘f**k off’.

To watch search for Material Matters with Grant Gibson on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. And you can listen on the MM website (link in bio).

09/09/2026

It’s less than a week to go until the opening of Material Matters London. So what can visitors expect to see when they walk through the doors?

Well, exhibitors on the ground floor include Material Matters regular the Wood Awards which will be showing the best work in timber in the fields of architecture and design from across the UK (image 2). Staying on a wood theme, Fallen & Felled transforms the way urban timber is valued by giving trees felled in and around London a second life (image 4).

Elsewhere, architextures.org showcases its library of more than 8,000 digital textures alongside Materials in Motion, a series of films celebrating Scotland’s rich material culture.

PROCEDES CHENEL INTERNATIONAL explores the creative potential of paper, developing innovative materials and techniques for exhibitions, events and interior design (image 1).

Look out too for, cutting edge fabrics brand Ultrafabrics Inc. which presents The Making of Possibility, an immersive exhibition exploring how thoughtful design and advanced manufacturing come together to create high-performance materials (image 5).

THE NEW MATERIALIST will present a curated selection of material innovations, including algae cellulose foams, tomato peel coatings, PHA composites and materials derived from upcycled invasive species (image 6).

Scottish manufacturer Kenoteq | Building a sustainable world K-Briq by K-Briq shows its expanding colour palette of bricks and tiles, alongside the new K-TILE, a versatile terrazzo-faced surface designed for interiors and furniture that reveals the recycled materials within each piece (image 3).

And finally (for this post at least) 3M Films UK showcases 3M™ DI-NOC™ Architectural Finishes, a collection of more than 1,000 decorative and functional films inspired by materials including wood, metal and stone, alongside solid colours and contemporary textures (image 7).

And there’s much, much more to come.

Material Matters London runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch. Entrance is free but it’s vital you register in advance (see link in bio).

08/09/2026

There’s a week to go until Material Matters opens and we have a roster of brilliant exhibitors to show you.

WEI STUDIO, for instance, is a material-led design practice exploring natural composites through experimental recipes that combine organic materials with binders to create extraordinary furniture and objects that appeal to a number of the senses.

Furniture is often judged by how it looks. For London-based designer and maker Luis Ho, founder of WEI STUDIO the more interesting question is how it feels. Through material experimentation and bio-composite development, his practice explores how furniture can engage touch, smell and physical interaction as much as sight. Using natural materials Ho creates tactile furniture and lighting that challenge conventional ideas of comfort, accessibility and materiality. His award-winning work demonstrates how material innovation can create calmer, safer and more inclusive interiors.

At the fair, WEI STUDIO will present GROUND, a collection of furniture, lighting and material samples. Developed through extensive material research, the collection combines expanded cork, granulated cork and natural latex to produce surfaces that are soft, tactile and naturally warm to the touch. Inspired by Ho’s experience of supporting elderly family members living with vision loss, GROUND demonstrates how thoughtful material design can make everyday objects more intuitive, reassuring and inclusive… which sounds good to ua.

Material Matters London runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch. Entrance is free for trade but it’s vital you register in advance (see link in bio).

07/09/2026

It’s not long now before the doors of Material Matters London swing open. And we’re delighted to welcome the British Council as an exhibitor for the first time.

The britisharts is the UK’s international culture and education organisation working through the arts, education and the English language. Its work in arts and culture builds creative and collaborative global communities that inspire innovation, inclusion, and enterprise.

At the fair, its installation focusses on the New Landscapes project, an international programme and catalyst grant scheme developed and delivered together with University of Arts London’s Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute ( UAL Fashion, Textiles and Technology Institute (FTTI) ). It was created to respond to the significant transformation taking place in the global fashion, textiles and technology sector, due to to climate pressures, resource constraints and evolving regulatory frameworks.

The New Landscapes India programme (2023-2026) focused specifically on strengthening UK-India collaboration in the sector, recognising India’s global importance in textile production, manufacturing capability and craft heritage, alongside the UK’s strengths in design innovation, advanced research, and established fashion and technology markets, whilst building on longstanding educational and cultural relationships between the two countries.

The materials on display showcase the six UK-India partnerships supported by the programme and provide more information on their future plans. It promises to be completely fascinating.

Material Matters London runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch. Entrance is free for trade but it’s vital you register in advance (see link in bio).

04/09/2026

Happy Friday everyone. We’re always keen to support emerging talent at Material Matters, so we’re delighted to be showcasing the Only Natural International Student Design Competition at this year’s fair once again.

Only Natural Design is a global movement promoting the use of natural materials in contemporary design. It champions fibres such as wool, h**p, leather and wood as renewable, durable alternatives to synthetic materials. At its core is the student design competition, which invites emerging designers to explore the creative potential of nature-based materials across fashion, furniture and interiors.

The projects featured at the fair showcase the versatility of nature-based materials and highlight innovative approaches to craft, material intelligence and responsible production. The awards ceremony takes place at the Material Matters London cafe on 15 September from 5.30pm. Come along!

Material Matters London runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch. Entrance is free for trade but it’s vital you register in advance (see link in bio).

03/09/2026

One of the most intriguing features of this year’s Material Matters London promises to be Hand, Code, Matter: A New Flow for Spatial Design. The exhibition, presented by award-winning company Matrix Design and curated by Pick Up Architecture explores how emerging technologies are reshaping the future of architecture and interior design, without losing sight of human creativity.

The installation brings together works from eight recent graduate architects, to demonstrate how hand-making, drawing and artificial intelligence can combine to create spaces that are deeply personal, culturally grounded, and emotionally resonant.

Hand, Code, Matter is just one of a panoply of wonderful things to see at this year’s Material Matters London, which runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch and is part of Shoreditch Design Week.

Entrance to the fair is free for trade but it’s vital – and we mean vital – you register in advance. You can do that through our website (see link in bio).

02/09/2026

The new series of the Material Matters podcast kicks off with a wonderful guest. Joel de Mowbray is the founding director of YES MAKE a regenerative design and build practice which saves high quality construction materials from going to waste.

Earlier this year, the company joined forces with interdisciplinary design collective, RESOLVE Collective and architect Material Cultures to launch Tipping Point East in east London, a circular construction hub that aims to divert tonnes of material from going to landfill.

In this episode, we talk about: the importance of reuse in the construction industry; living on a former Dunkirk ‘little ship’; founding a new circular hub at Tipping Point East; working in the ‘wild west’ of industrial sites; how the team created its studio from materials they already possessed; owning Elton John’s old (and very purple) kitchen; the importance of public engagement in Yes Make’s practice; how the company ‘cooks with what’s in the fridge’; the challenges of reuse; being a ‘lost boy’ growing up; learning from, and working with, his father; and how his relationship with his parents effects the projects he takes on.

To listen search for Material Matters with Grant Gibson on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and the MM website (see link in bio).

And remember: Material Matters London runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch. Entrance is free for trade but it’s vital you register in advance and you can do that through our website (see link in bio).

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