Recognitions
Byron Design Week
Address Book (2026)
National Gallery of Victoria
The Nature of Design (2026)
Melbourne Design Week
100 Chairs (2026)
Good Design Awards
Twoobs (2024)
Material-led Design
Avant Mater is a Byron Bay-based material research and industrial design studio developing bio-based materials for objects, lighting and interiors.
Its research focuses on locally available resources and discarded by-products, including MACA, a stone-like biomaterial made from macadamia shells sourced from the Northern Rivers. The studio also develops resins from biological polymers, using naturally derived and locally sourced ingredients. While bio-resins represent a renewed area of research in contemporary design, natural resins have a much longer history, with evidence of their use in ancient Egyptian furniture and artefacts.
Localisation and circularity underpin the practice. Through ongoing experimentation, materials are tested to their limits, with failure helping define their capabilities and constraints. Rather than forcing materials into predetermined forms, Avant Mater allows their properties to guide the design process, identifying applications suited to the material itself.
Acknowledgement: To Edith Medina, the brains behind Biology Studio Mexico and mother of biomaterials, for her immense care and mentorship. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and teaching us how to question and experiment through material research. Your guidance has given us the confidence and tools to keep progressing, and we are eternally grateful.
