Assemble with Material Matters
Conversations that matter
20 November 2025 | Bank of England, Moorgate Auditorium
This year, Material Matters is launching its first conference: Assemble. Taking place at the Bank of England Conference Centre in November, the one day event will bookend a busy year of activities in the UK and abroad. Assemble aims to investigate how material intelligence and regenerative design can reshape our economies through a series of keynote lectures, interviews and panel discussions.
Staging the event at the Bank of England underscores the vital role the creative industries play in the UK economy - contributing around £124 billion in GVA in 2023 - and creates a symbolic space to bridge the longstanding gap between the creative and financial sectors. It’s a chance to bring material intelligence into the heart of economic thinking, and to spark dialogue between those shaping culture and those shaping capital.
9.30 Keynote
Why Materials Matter - Caroline Till
10.20 Panel - Fashion
A discussion that looks at what the fashion industry must to do become sustainable.
Speakers:
Professor Becky Earley, UAL Chair of Circular Design Futures
Hans Ates, founder, Blackhorse Lane Atelier
Sara Grady, co-founder, British Pasture Leather
Chair: Amanda Johnston, curator, Sustainable Angle
11:10 Break
11.30 Panel - Transport
How can materials make the way we move more sustainable?
Speakers:
Daniel Clucas, co-founder, Studio ID Design
Maria Kafel-Bentkowska, associate director, Colour, Material and Finish, PriestmanGoode
Andrea Rosati, head of strategic design, Lotus
Chair: James McLachlan, editor in chief, Car Design News
12.20 Keynote
Academic and author Tim Minshall, professor of innovation and head of institute for manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, on the importance of manufacturing and making things for a nation’s economy and sense of self.
13.10 Lunch
14.00 - Show & Tell
A chance to hear and touch some materials of the future.
Karlijn Sibbel, innovation director, Notpla
Yash Shah, founder and CEO, EcoLattice
Sam Chapman, executive director, Kenoteq
Sanne Visser, project lead, HairCycle
14.45 Keynote
Award-winning journalist and author Pete Apps on economics, housing and materials, and how we can prevent the Grenfell Tower disaster from happening again.
15.40 Panel - Housing
The government plans to build 1.5 million new homes over this parliament, but how can it do this and still achieve its net zero target
Speakers:
Jonathan Smales, executive chairman, Human Nature
Maria Lisogorskaya, co-founder, Assemble Studio
Amin Taha, chairperson, Groupwork
Paul Monaghan, executive director, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Architects (AHMM)
Chair: Rowan Moore, architecture critic, The Observer
16.30 Conference Summary
Curator, writer and historian Glenn Adamson closes the conference
LOCATION
Our inaugural conference takes place at the Bank of England Moorgate Auditorium in London’s city centre.
Who is it for?
Assemble with Material Matters is for people who work with materials—creatively, strategically, and critically.
We welcome designers, architects, academics and policy-makers, as well as those in large consultancies, innovation teams, and corporate design departments: people tackling sustainability at scale and rethinking how materials shape products, systems, and lives.
Whether you’re advising global clients on climate strategy, developing next-generation packaging in a lab, or experimenting with circular design in a studio, this conference is a space to share knowledge, make connections, and explore the bigger picture.
If you’re interested in how materials can help us build more intelligent, resilient, and responsible futures—this is for you.
Key Information
Date 20 November 2025Time 8.30am-5pm conference, 5.15-8pm evening reception in the Bank of England Museum
Venue Bank of England, Moorgate Auditorium, 20 Moorgate, London EC2R 6DA
Nearest stations Bank, Cannon Street
Entry Conference passes are available for £175 +VAT. Tickets are non-transferable. Valid photo ID will be required to enter the venue. View our admissions policy here.
The venue is fully accessible.
The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. It was founded in 1694 as a private bank to act as banker to the Government, and is the second oldest central bank in the world. The Bank was nationalized in 1946 and granted operational independence in 1997. Today the Bank’s mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.
bankofengland.co.uk
The Bank of England Museum, located within the Bank of England in the City of London, is home to a collection of diverse items relating to the history of the Bank and the UK economy from the Bank’s foundation to the present day. The Museum illuminates architecture, craft and design from the site itself, the building, interiors, currency and banknotes. The Museum is open to the public, free of charge.
bankofengland.co.uk/museum
We’re delighted that Assemble with Material Matters is being sponsored by Karst. The design-led stationery brand is redefining the future of creative tools through material innovation and thoughtful design. Founded in Sydney in 2016, Karst began with a reimagining of one of humanity’s oldest mediums – paper – and a belief that progress should be both beautiful and responsible.
The result was Karst Stone Paper™, a material made from sustainably recycled stone, free from bleaches and acids. It is engineered to outperform traditional wood-pulp paper, being more durable, more sustainable, and infinitely smoother to write or draw on. What began as a notebook has evolved into a family of creative tools: woodless pencils, refined desk accessories, collaborations with artists and authors, and limited collections that invite focus, curiosity, and play.
It is the perfect brand to collaborate with for the conference.
karstgoods.com
Dezeen is the world's most influential architecture, interiors and design magazine, with over three million monthly readers and more than seven million social media followers.
Its mission is simple: to set the agenda for the global architecture and design community by bringing it a carefully edited selection of the best architecture, interiors and design projects and news from around the world.
dezeen.com
David