Material Matters opens at new venue Space House for LDF.

Material Matters takes place at Space House in London’s West End from 17–20 September as part of the London Design Festival.

Bringing together established brands and emerging designers to explore the future of materials and design, it offers three packed days of inspiration.

Talks Programme

Talk highlights include author and curator Seetal Solanki in conversation with journalist and editor Amy Frearson; Kevin Rouff, co-founder of Studio ThusThat; and designer-maker Sebastian Cox.

Solanki, who describes herself as a materials translator and has been at the forefront of material thinking since she launched her practice Ma-tt-er in 2015, begins the programme on Wednesday 17 September by providing an overview of the significance of materials.

The late-night programme on 17 September opens with the highly anticipated Negroni Talk, created by architecture practice Fourth_Space. Born out of frustration with the mannerisms of traditional architectural debate, the talks are meant as a provocation – capturing the spirit of lively, opinion-driven exchanges from Fin de siècle European café culture.

Now in its fourth edition at the fair, this year’s session focuses on the theme of ‘performance’. Despite increasing calls for adaptive reuse, a culture of demolition still prevails in the construction industry. With new-build often perceived as the easier option to meet increasingly demanding requirements, the debate raises a question: how can we genuinely enhance the performance of our built environment if we fail to address the inefficiencies and waste inherent in our existing building stock?

A session dedicated to wood will explore the psychological, educational and sensorial potentials of building with timber and integrating nature into our structures. Speakers include Lou Davies, co-founder of BOX 9; Edmund Fowles, founding director of Feilden Fowles; Rachel Elliott, associate director of Lynch Architects, and it will be chaired by Sebastian Cox.

Other topics being explored include: working with waste, designing with biomaterials, the rise of Polish design, why making is good for you, the joy of Nordic design, and a series of talks centred around the fair’s biggest installation, In The Making 2.0.

In The Making 2.0

Visitors are first welcomed to Space House by In The Making 2.0, an exhibition curated by design and architecture practice tp bennett, in collaboration with Future Works, the innovation partner of The Furniture Practice. 

The installation invites audiences to reflect on the environmental impact of design and explore how materials are evolving to shape a more sustainable future.

The showcase builds on the success of last year’s edition by highlighting the true cost of what we create, from raw material extraction to manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

The exhibition is organised into three elemental zones: Land, Water and Atmosphere, reflecting the original environmentalist framework and providing a thematic perspective on material impact.

Exhibitor Highlights

Low Carbon Industrial (LCI) is a UK-based materials company founded in 2025. The company is the brainchild of Jake Solomon and Conor Taylor, who together identified a gap in the market for sustainable surface and material solutions. Its mission is to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of architectural materials without sacrificing performance, aesthetics, or practicality. LCI produces beautiful, thoughtful and honest low-carbon alternatives to the materials widely used by the industry.

During the fair, LCI’s Elenite will be introduced as a material sponsor. The material will be featured at key touchpoints throughout the event, including the welcome desk, bar surfaces, tabletops and totems. Visitors can engage directly with the LCI team at Stand T9, where they can explore the stories behind Elenite, Foresso, and No-Chip, and interact with the raw materials firsthand, gaining insight into the journey from origin to finished products.

The Material Matters Copenhagen edit showcases some of the exhibitors involved in the acclaimed launch of Material Matters Copenhagen during 3daysofdesign in June 2025. Exhibitors include: AHEC Europe, Hydro, Abalon, Jo Andersson and Spark & Bell.

crafting plastics! studio unveils Responsive Matter: Bioplastics Ready to Live With You — a collection of projects that reimagine plastics not as wasteful, inert substances, but as responsive, living-like companions for our interiors.

The showcase brings together four works developed through years of interdisciplinary designers-led-research, each exploring how biomaterials can sense, adapt and communicate with their environment. From UV-reactive furniture that makes sunlight’s intensity visible, to a foldable wall that reveals radiation, modular partitions that allow interiors to breathe, and a hydroponic column system that visualises soil health — these prototypes demonstrate that bioplastics are already ready for daily life. Durable yet biodegradable, aesthetic yet functional, they point toward a future where interiors are healthier, more transparent, and more alive.

Making it Out (MIO) supports people in moving on from homelessness, prison and chronic addiction, using making to improve their opportunities and well-being. It will showcase the Sussex S.E.E. Chair project, which involves creating a new regional furniture style – based on the original Sussex Chair by William Morris – to explore how regenerative resourcing and making can help generate benefits for society, the economy and the environment.

Noti is a Polish furniture brand rooted in craftsmanship and timeless design, creating versatile collections for residential and contract interiors. It will present three collections – Vivido, Cactus, and Ekori – each exploring a different material and approach to design.

Norwegian Presence will present Norwegian designers and brands who are finding innovative but responsible ways of producing furniture and products. The collective features leading brands from Norway including the likes of Northern, Jensen Beds, Lundhs, Eikund and Norsk Dun.

Other exhibitors to look out for include Trouble Studio, pioneering jewellery designer Sofie Boons, Max Wills, LOVEHAPPY, Tabitha Bargh, VTT, and Polish design collective Małe Dobra.

Partners of Material Source Studio, Parkside Architectural Tiles will be exhibiting with Alusid, alongside Impact Acoustic, Kenoteq and Surface Matter.

Sign up for tickets, here.