Natural Material Studio crafts lighting from leftover seaweed at Sticks n Sushi restaurant

Copenhagen-based Natural Material Studio has created speckled pendant lighting out of kelp waste, salvaged from miso soup that would otherwise be thrown away at Sticks n Sushi in Lyngby, Denmark.

The lighting is made from layers of bespoke biotextiles, crafted using seaweed and spirulina algae leftover from dishes prepared in the kitchen at the Lyngby branch of Japanese-Danish fusion restaurant Sticks n Sushi.

"Technically, you can find endless fibres and particles in biowaste," said Natural Material Studio founder Bonnie Hvillum, who is known for her textiles made of everything from old bricks to surplus beer.

"They work perfectly as reinforcement in a biomaterial composition, regardless of what type of biopolymers you are working with," she told Dezeen. "It is an endless game of combining things – very much like cooking!"

Hvillum created the lighting as part of the restaurant's recent interior renovation, which was informed by Japanese minimalism and led by architect Emily Broom.

First, the designer distilled and dehydrated large pieces of Danish kelp, which are consistently left over from orders of miso soup – a popular dish on the eatery's menu.

Hvillum did the same to the algae, which came from the kitchens as a wet mass created by food processing.

After the biomaterials were broken down – the kelp into smaller fibrous pieces, and the algae into very fine particles – the designer incorporated them into semi-translucent slabs of Procel.

Procel is the studio's patented protein-based biopolymer, which is cast by hand and contains natural softener made from plant oils for flexibility and a small amount of chalk for strength.

Reinforced with the leftover seaweed and algae, each Procel textile features a unique streaky pattern.

"The material is natural, biodegradable and compostable at home, and can be remelted, making it an entirely circular product," said Hvillum.

Each lighting fixture is composed of a rectilinear frame, fitted with an LED-light source, that hangs from the ceiling. Hvillum hung layers of the biotextile from each frame to create the layered designs.

"We wanted to make something that felt both refined and expressive," said the designer. "Something that would complement the smoked oak interior while also adding its own tactile character to the space."

"The material research really directed the design work," she added.

Alongside the lighting, the studio used the biotextile to create noren for the restaurant, traditional Japanese room dividers made of fabric.

Hvillum explained that her team used seaweed and algae because they wanted to concentrate on "locally rooted" waste streams.

"Seaweed is a natural resource in Denmark that we have a lot of, so it was interesting for us to explore and highlight it in a new context," said the designer.

But she also suggested that there is potential to work with other food-based waste streams for future projects.

"What excites us most is the idea of transforming overlooked materials into something tactile, atmospheric and unexpected," she considered.

"So experimenting with something like sushi rice or other kitchen leftovers could absolutely be interesting to explore."

Previously, Hvillum crafted an entire prototype home out of bioplastic, which she presented at the 2024 edition of 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen.

The photography is by Natural Material Studio.

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