Giving Demolition Waste a Second Life
Every building holds stories within its walls. London-based circular design studio Prima Materia ensures those stories don't end at demolition. Salvaging high-quality architectural materials from redevelopment sites, the studio transforms reclaimed timber into contemporary furniture and homeware that celebrates both craftsmanship and provenance. Rather than disguising a material's previous life, Prima Materia embraces it, revealing the marks, imperfections and history embedded within reclaimed wood. Each piece is handcrafted in London and accompanied by a Digital Product Passport, providing complete transparency about its origin, fabrication and environmental impact. It's an approach that places circular design, material traceability and urban mining at the heart of contemporary furniture making.
At Material Matters London, Prima Materia will unveil 'Demolition to Design', a new furniture collection crafted from reclaimed oak salvaged from the One Museum Street development in Holborn. Using an innovative dowelling technique that celebrates rather than conceals the timber's former fixings, the collection demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform construction waste into enduring furniture, giving London's built environment a compelling second life.