Some material nerds from Detail Studio visited the SuperMaterials exhibition at the Building Centre yesterday.

This small exhibition houses samples of a variety of materials, from those currently in use but with interesting properties (such as Aerogel) to those which are interesting but yet to find an application, like transparent wood. Yes, ‘transparent’ wood… wood with the lignin removed which becomes opaque while retaining its structural properties.

There was a significant emphasis on materials with low carbon properties, or materials that offer alternatives to traditional plastic or nasty chemical ridden offerings. One of our favourites, that seemed to offer real-world application potential, was the Biochar cladding panels – made of a carbon negative waste product that would enable future buildings to be made of atmospheric carbon…