Natural Carbon

Hemp, Pine resin, Beeswax, Sweet Chestnut.

260x330x420mm

How can materials that work with nature rather than against it be used for objects?

Wood captures carbon; hemp captures it quicker. Pine resin is a natural, traceable binder that can be combined with hemp to create a formable material. These stools find success veering from convention, offering an experimental, low-impact, naturally focused approach.

2026

Hemp, a material for the future. Capable of capturing as much carbon dioxide in 5 months as young forest captures in a whole year (Europa). A strong fibre, the difficult part is finding a suitable binder; natural, low impact binders are the only way forward. Pine resin offers this potential. Naturally secreted from pine trees, still harvested in Portugal, it offers potential. Pine resin is brittle on its own, but when mixed with beeswax, it is a capable material.

These stools combine locally sourced sweet chestnut timber, flat-pack design, reversible gelatine based glue, and low carbon design to demonstrate a new material. Through multiple attempts and failures, the end stools carry the story of experimentation.