We partnered with Bioforcetech to explore their waste-derived material, OurCarbon, and examine how design can bring unseen materials into the conversation.
Some materials are so deeply ingrained in our everyday lives that we rarely stop to consider where they come from or what they cost us. Carbon black is one such material. It’s cheap, effective, and nearly invisible, appearing in everything from phone cases to packaging to concrete. It’s also fossil-derived, potentially carcinogenic, and a major contributor to industrial emissions. So, when we first discovered OurCarbon—a carbon-negative pigment made from transformed sewage sludge—we saw more than an interesting material. We saw an opportunity to challenge ourselves to design with better materials before clients even ask for them.
For every ton of OurCarbon produced, it sequesters 1.02 tons of CO₂ and avoids up to 24 tons by diverting biosolids from landfill. That kind of impact matters—but only if people understand what the material is and recognize its potential. We didn’t just want to appreciate the story behind this material; we wanted to work with it—to see how it behaves, how it feels, and how it might perform at scale. Ultimately, we set out to explore how design could help make this kind of innovation visible.
Our cities are design in action at every scale—more like ecosystems than machines, quietly operating from sidewalk to skyline. While we often marvel at dramatic architecture or new vehicles on the road, it’s the foundational systems—sidewalks, sewer lines, electrical grids—that keep everything running. These elements are essential to daily life, yet are designed to disappear into the background.
We chose to design pavers because they’re both everywhere and easily ignored. They cover sidewalks, plazas, and public walkways—made from materials used at a massive scale, yet rarely noticed. That made them the ideal testbed for a material like OurCarbon. Pavers rely on cement, one of the most carbon-intensive materials in use today. But they also depend on sand—a material so seemingly abundant, we hardly think about it. In reality, the world is running low on the kind of sand suitable for concrete. OurCarbon offers a timely alternative—not just as a pigment or additive, but as a structural replacement for sand itself.
That invisibility was part of the point. Designing a paver gave us a platform to explore how OurCarbon could function both structurally and aesthetically—and to spark conversation about the materials that lie beneath our feet.
Our industrial designers, Chloe Georgiades and Grace Budgett, led the project from first sketch to final prototype. Working hands-on in our shop, they explored how different forms of OurCarbon—fine powder and coarse granules—interacted with concrete to affect surface texture, color, and tone.
When mixed with light cement, the granules created a soft, speckled finish that subtly revealed the material’s composition. The fine powder, blended with dark cement, produced a rich, matte-black block—visually striking and reminiscent of traditional carbon black, but without the environmental cost.
We arranged these variations into a porous tessellation pattern that alternated light and dark blocks to create rhythm and contrast. The pattern wasn’t just aesthetic; its sub-half-inch spacing allowed for effective stormwater drainage and met ADA compliance. Every detail served a visual and functional purpose.
We brought the prototype pavers and small material samples to San Francisco Design Week, where visitors could see the designs up close, take home paperweight-sized samples, and discuss carbon, waste, and the role of design in sustainability with our team and Garrett Benisch, Development Director at Bioforcetech and co-founder of the OurCarbon product.
This project enabled us to transform a complex material story into something people could physically engage with. Working directly with OurCarbon gave us hands-on insight into how waste-derived materials behave—how they mix, set, and express themselves through form and texture. We also saw how subtle choices in material and finish can communicate sustainability without relying on messaging.
Just as importantly, the experience prepared us to guide clients toward more informed material decisions, grounded in experimentation rather than theory. It reaffirmed something central to our practice: industrial design isn’t just about solving problems—it’s about revealing possibilities. Materials like OurCarbon don’t belong in binders or sample boxes. They belong in the world, where people can see, touch, and imagine new ways to use them.
Projects like this serve as a reminder that the systems we rely on—from wastewater treatment to sidewalks—aren’t just infrastructure. They’re incredible feats of design in their own right. They deserve more curiosity, more innovation, and more creative engagement. There’s a quiet beauty in the materials and processes that hold our world together, and plenty of room for designers to help shape what comes next.
OurCarbon is already making its way into numerous industries, but its broader potential will come from how we imagine—and implement—it across new contexts. This project helped us build the kind of understanding that comes only from making. As we explore what’s next, we’re bringing our experience into conversations with packaging partners, where material choices carry real weight. It’s one step in a much larger shift, and we’re committed to keep moving forward while continuing to ask: where else could this material make sense, make an impact, or simply make something better?
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