Surface Design Awards – Complete

• INTERIOR SURFACE OF THE YEAR - NEW
  This is a new category that recognises wall, floor, ceiling and surface design products, including decorative, creative and inventive surfaces for the interior of buildings including both commercial and residential properties.

Rootfull unites design with biology and reconnects humanity with Nature. Through contemporary craft, innovation and invention, Zena Holloway grows root into memorable artefacts that cultivate material intelligence and regenerative design.

Rootfull is a pioneering project that grows wheatgrass into templates carved from beeswax to create lamps and acoustic wall hangings from root. Over 12 days the shoot grows to 20cm while the root binds below to form a naturally woven structure. With sustainability at the heart of the process, the ingredients are organic and locally sourced. Water is reused from runoff and any leftover shoot or seed is eaten as animal fodder. The pieces show that the power of plants is infinitely renewable, and nature’s amazing capabilities are simply waiting for us to tap into.

Root is a fascinating and versatile material to craft and the most honest results are achieved by working with the natural flows of the fibre. Zena grows the material into lamps that seek to shine a light on this hidden natural fibre, to reveal a textile that invites intrigue and wonder at nature's unique capabilities.

Each design combines sustainability, innovation, and bio-sculpture by allowing the root to weave its own path through templates carved from beeswax. Rather like a tree growing, the root takes different paths every time, altering the light and shadow of each lamp to make each one individual.

The materials used are simply wheatgrass seed and water.
When freshly harvested the root is heavy and damp and after 24 hours it dries to become featherweight, and strong enough to support its own weight. Natural oils and waxes stabilise the material to keep it supple and, if kept from the elements, it will last for many years. Root textile has similar properties to a straw hat or a fine leather bag. The brief was to make a collection of sustainable lamps, grown from grass root, where all the ingredients are organic and locally sourced. Water is reused from runoff and any leftover shoot, seed or root is eaten as animal fodder. Each growing cycle produces a different result, so no two pieces ever grow the same. Just as trees grow differently every time, so too the root takes different paths. Grass root grows best in colonies and as such the threads gather in groups to form repeating pathways that can be sewn, plucked, stitched and moulded. By standardising the patterns and mounting on delicate steel wire frames the lamps appear to float. The target audience has a deep interest in sustainability and biophilic designs. The aim of the lamps is to invite wonder and intrigue at nature’s amazing capabilities and reveal forgotten natural fibres that can be used to grow our built environment.

Biodesign is an emerging design movement, that incorporates the use of living organisms such as yeast, bacteria, algae, and fungi to grow new materials. Rootfull is an original example of a bio-designed material. It uses natural processes to grow organic textiles and even final products; it's a textile, woven entirely by nature. The material is 100% organic and bio-degradable. The project explores the sensory aesthetic of root and the promising possibility of textile grown from seed. Root could potentially replace many synthetic and harmful alternative fibres. Once treated with natural oils and waxes to preserve the delicate root structure it has the potential to last as long as a straw hat, for example. It can withstand moisture damage but, as with any organic material, it will begin to degrade and return to nature if left to the elements.

Zena Holloway has been diving since she was a child and travelled widely for work as a commercial underwater photographer. She has witnessed some of the most wondrous marine environments but increasingly this view is becoming rarer as the tsunami of underwater pollution, human impact and coral bleaching increases and depletes marine life. As a result, her interest in sustainability, materiality, and bio-design has grown exponentially. Curiosity led her to grow artefacts with mycelium before discovering the binding properties of root. The ocean and life underwater are her references, so she designs the root into textures and patterns that emulate coral. In doing so, she strives to highlight the devastation of coral reef bleaching caused by global warming. Just as roots underpin the natural world that exists above ground, so too coral is the foundation for the ecosystems of our oceans. Through Rootfull she hopes to inspire a greater awareness of materials and champion ocean conservation.

The first planting test was grown in 2018 and new tests have been overlapped and planted continuously ever since.
The project continues to grow.