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Birmingham-based brand Foresso utilizes offcut timber and waste plaster to form an innovative composite material that resembles terrazzo stone, developed as a reaction against waste in the interiors industry. Just like the 15th-century origins of its stone cousin, Foresso celebrates the beauty and variation of natural materials while making use of otherwise disposed of residue. The sheets are cast onto a plywood substrate, with each capturing 78kg of C02 and made using 85% recycled material, all sourced within Britain.

With a focus on aesthetics just as much as sustainability, the product is suitable for all interior surfaces across both commercial and domestic environments, from flooring to tabletops and wall coverings. Specific waste materials repurposed in Foresso include those from sawmills, cement, lime plaster, resin, and pigment. A combination of food safe hardwax oils seal the timber to ensure durability, with each sheet finished by hand. The material can also be cut and altered like timber using standard tools and is easy to refinish once a project is complete. A range of lacquer finishes for both sheets and flooring are designed specifically for high traffic environments.

Foresso’s Conor Taylor partnered with Jake Solomon of architectural supplier Solomon & Wu to design and manufacture the London collection, a range of four designs inspired by various iconic local neighbourhoods. All timber was sourced from trees felled in London, such as oak, plane, walnut and cedar. Each is accentuated and given character by different binder colours, including charcoal, deep brown, and cream. Foresso can be customised with different combinations of binder colour and wood chips, and flooring can be supplied with a tongue and groove in custom sizes and shapes.

Although not yet widely recyclable, the material can be returned for re-use and recycling, with every piece of material able to be ground up and used in future batches to prevent waste. The company consistently strives to combat manufacturing challenges and waste, having already eliminated single-use plastics in their packaging, and the office using only recycled materials. Future goals include 0% landfill by the end of 2020, and working towards 100% recycled material in each Foresso sheet.

“We think that there needs to be a radical shift in manufacturing towards the use of waste and a more circular economy, and we’d like to help make that a reality,” says Taylor.

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