Discarded Oyster

Sea Stone
Sustainable material made from wasted seashells.

Sea Stone is a sustainable material which in reality is comprised by 100% natural, non-toxic and binders. It features plastic alike hardness and aesthetic texture.

Every year, 7 million tons of seashells are discarded by the seafood industry and aquaculture. Even though, some of the seashells have been recycled and used as fertilizers, the majority of them are being thrown into landfills or by the seaside. The discarded seashells which are uncleaned or rotten have not been cleared away at all and have been piling up near the beach for a long time, thus, causing odour pollution and polluting the surrounding land in the long run.

Yet, these shells are materials with high potential, which consist of over 90% calcium carbonate, containing similar to the one of what calcium carbonate in the limestone contains and seen as a valuable biomaterial.

Project ‘Sea Stone’ proposes the use of discarded seashells to create environmentally and economically sustainable material rather than contributing to the world’s rubbish problem.

Moreover, it is expected to positively impact on three effects such as reducing waste disposal costs, preventing marine pollution, and recycling waste by creating value-added products with artistic, aesthetic, and functional new uses.

We collect discarded seashells from seafood industries, and then shells are processed, ground and mixed with various natural binders, under the right proportion. Ultimately, those mixtures can maximize the benefit of the materials, as well as textures and hardness.

We intend to integrate Sea Stone to the connection from the debris state to the beautiful home interior objects, so that you can see the discarded shells had done their long journey. The material can be used as decorative tiles for interior walls and products, since it has a natural terrazzo and aesthetic texture. Its specialty is that each piece is unique. Size of particle, colour and hand working makes all the pieces different from each other.

Hyein Choi and Jihee Moon

Hyein Choi and Jihee Moon are Studio newtab-22, a designer duo based in Seoul and London, started from Royal College of Art 2019.

We are interested in natural, new or overlooked materials. We seek the beneficial and intriguing properties of the materials, trying to bring them into the modern life with our design. We aim to critically bring sustainability into society with the outcome of our work. We suggest the possibilities for today and tomorrow, facilitating innovative experiments, while following the aesthetic pleasing aspect of natural itself.