One Year On: Meet Prima Materia

ST: Prima Materia is a circular design studio that diverts high-quality materials from the UK construction and demolition industry, reimagining them into unique, contemporary furniture with a clear sense of provenance.

At its core, our work is about keeping good materials in use, so we salvage them from large London redevelopment sites before they are lost to landfill and collaborate with emerging designers to transform them into functional pieces for private and public spaces.

We work with developers, interior designers, architects and private clients looking for distinctive furniture with a lower environmental impact. Alongside bespoke commissions, we are also developing limited-edition collections, allowing us to balance project-based work with a more scalable product offering.

Who is behind the studio, and how did the team come together?

ST: Jeremy and I founded the studio after meeting at Sustainable Ventures. We always shared a love of thoughtful, sustainable design and a strong belief in the behavioural shifts needed to protect the world around us.

As for how we work, Jeremy leads on design, fabrication and material sourcing, while I focus on business operations, partnerships and strategy, and that balance has been key for us.

London Design Festival also played an important role in how Prima Materia came together. Jeremy visited Studio Tip’s brilliant ‘Tip Takes’ exhibition at LDF24, which invited participants to work with materials salvaged from the historic French Railways House. He designed a mirror cabinet and coffee table using lift engine covers, and that moment sparked our interest in the potential of demolition materials.

Our LDF25 designers in residence, Blake Carlson Joshua and Freddie Keen, met Jeremy at the Royal College of Art. Their collaboration shaped our first collection, and we are continuing to work together for LDF26. We are also very pleased to say that Blake has since joined Prima Materia as a Creative Partner.

What is the wider purpose behind the studio, and how does storytelling contribute to that vision?

ST: The UK construction and demolition sector produces vast amounts of waste and embodied carbon, yet much of the material recovered is still downcycled or lost rather than retained at high value. For us, that represents a real opportunity.

Our thinking is simple: if reuse can be made visible, desirable and traceable, perceptions can begin to shift. Reclaimed materials should not be seen as a compromise, but as a valuable and inspiring resource. That's why storytelling plays a big role in this. Each piece carries a narrative, from where the material came from to how it has been transformed. That story adds both emotional and environmental value, and helps reconnect people to the materials around them.

ST: We are a small studio with big ambitions, and a strongly material-led, research-driven approach. We are particularly interested in materials that are difficult to recycle and how their value can be retained. Jeremy’s background in design research and engineering underpins much of this thinking.

Working with reclaimed materials is inherently complex. They come with incredible quality, character and history, but also inconsistencies and imperfections. So rather than trying to erase that, we design with it, allowing those traces of a past life to remain visible.

This sits behind our development of ‘Provenance Passports’, which document each piece’s material origin, fabrication process and environmental impact, including embodied carbon and transport. It creates a transparent narrative, tracing the journey from demolition site to finished object.

Another thing that is central to what we do is collaboration. Working with skilled designer-makers such as Jeremy, Blake and Freddie brings a level of craft and care that is essential to the work. As we grow, we are keen to expand this network and create space for emerging designers to engage with circular design in practice.

How did you get involved with the LDF Launch Pad Initiative, and how did the Pith® sponsorship come about?

ST: Jeremy, Blake and Freddie had already been discussing exhibiting together, and collaboration was always a core part of what we wanted to build.

Since the early days of Prima Materia, we had begun salvaging materials from the One Museum Street development in Holborn and started conversations with the developer about showcasing work created directly from the site. Then, Freddie had initially been selected for the LDF and Pith Launch Pad, and chose to present as Prima Materia so we could realise a more ambitious idea.

This led to the creation of an immersive exhibition within a vacant shop on the demolition site itself, showing the circular process in real time. It actually all came together very quickly, and we are incredibly grateful to Pith and LDF for supporting us at such an early stage. That belief in our vision made a real difference.

At what stage was Prima Materia as a business when you took part in LDF?

ST: We had only incorporated the business about a month before LDF25, so it ended up becoming our launch moment. It allowed us to test a proof of concept in a very public way, to understand how people responded and to begin building meaningful connections.

It also gave us visibility and opened up conversations with architects, designers and developers that have continued well beyond the Festival. And there is nothing quite like a deadline to get things moving!

ST: It was exhilarating, manic, collaborative. I would say that the overriding feeling was gratitude. We had an incredible network of partners who made it possible, from John F Hunt, who gave us access to the demolition site and materials, to Simten, who allowed us to transform a derelict shop on New Oxford Street into an exhibition space. You could even hear the demolition happening while standing in the gallery, which brought the whole concept to life.

We also connected with a brilliant community of circular designers, including those at Minerva Works during Park Royal Design District, where we previewed pieces the weekend before opening.

Overall, the support from LDF and Pith throughout the Launch Pad Initiative was instrumental, and as a start-up, having a funded entry goes a long way! It was a collective effort, and that spirit of collaboration defined the experience.

What were the most valuable things you took away from LDF that helped shape Prima Materia?

ST: Primarily, LDF25 gave us the proof of concept we needed. ‘Reimagining Demolition’ allowed us to test both the design approach and the business model in a live setting; so I would say that one of the most valuable outcomes was realising that parts of our initial model were not going to work just yet. It pushed us to refine our approach and focus more clearly on where we can have the most impact.

It also introduced us to a brilliant network of architects, designers and circular economy practitioners. Many of those conversations have continued well beyond the festival and have led to new opportunities and collaborations.

Have there been any key developments since LDF that were essential to the studio's growth?

ST: Very much so! Since LDF, we have been supported by a number of organisations that have played an important role in our growth. In February, we joined Makerversity’s ‘Makers with a Mission’ programme at Somerset House, which supports 20 designers each year with workspace and development support. That residency has given us the time and space to further develop our practice, prototype our Provenance Passports and test new techniques that we will be presenting in our next collection.

We have also been awarded a Westminster Creative Enterprise Zone grant, which will enable us to establish our own circular workshop. Alongside this, we are developing a Circular Economy Hub with two other businesses, opening in September 2026, where we will host events and workshops to share circularity in action.

Are there any other exciting things we should expect from Prima Materia in the coming year?

ST: We are very excited to be exhibiting again at London Design Festival this year. We will be at Material Matters in Shoreditch presenting a new collection that explores techniques which celebrate the inherent character of reclaimed materials. A key element is a dowelling method used to fill the voids left by original fixings. Rather than concealing these marks, we highlight them, turning them into a deliberate and expressive feature. It is a continuation of our approach of working with, rather than against, the material.

Looking ahead, we are also developing a collection using materials recovered from The End nightclub, a much-loved part of London’s cultural history. Like so many venues, it has been lost, but not forgotten, and we are interested in how its story can live on through the pieces we create.