Bio-based materials are moving from experimental to mainstream in commercial interiors. But here's the twist: bio-based design isn't new at all. For centuries, people built with what was at hand — and those materials often outperformed the industrial substitutes that came later.
In Denmark, eelgrass roofs on Læsø Island houses were naturally fire-resistant, insulating, and so durable that some lasted more than 200 years. Across Europe, half-timbered houses used infill of straw, reed and clay for thermal mass and humidity regulation that rivals today's "smart" materials. In Japan, tatami mats made of rice straw softened acoustics while controlling humidity. Even Viking ships were caulked with animal hair and moss — a bio-based composite long before polymers existed.
So are we making a circle? In a way, yes — but this time with new tools: engineered composites, 3D printing, and performance testing that let natural materials be reintroduced at scale. What was once common sense is now design innovation. And when paired with greenery, these materials don't just decorate an interior — they lay the foundation for regenerative design: spaces that give back more than they take.
Why bio-based design matters for workplaces
Bio-based materials balance aesthetics, wellbeing and environmental responsibility. They bring warmth and texture where sterility used to rule. They quietly regulate climate and sound. And they prove sustainability can be tangible — something you can touch, see, and even smell.
Doctors office in Copenhagen, Amager
Aesthetics that age with dignity
Sterile white walls and laminates don't spark feelings. Surfaces of wood, straw, cork or algae bring back texture, depth and imperfection — the kind that feels real. Every knot in the wood or fibre in the straw is nature, not a flaw. For interior designers, this is an opportunity to craft spaces that feel sophisticated and alive. Beyond looks, these materials age with dignity: wood patinates, cork softens, clay shifts subtly over time — telling a story of use instead of degrading.
Canteen for Copenhagen's Municipality in Amager
Better for the planet — and provable
Hemp and bamboo capture CO₂ as they grow, waste straw gets a second life as wall infill, and algae bioplastics can decompose instead of sitting in landfills for centuries. Crucially, bio-based materials open the door to a circular economy: components that can be disassembled, recycled, or returned safely to the earth. Many are also locally sourced, cutting transport emissions and supporting regional craft. For clients, that means a project that looks forward and demonstrates measurable climate responsibility.
Examples worth watching
Organoid Surfaces (Austria, available in Denmark) — wallcoverings made from natural fibres like hay, moss, lavender or coffee grounds, adding scent and texture to interiors.
Prometheus Materials' algae bricks — bricks made with a microalgae-based binder that sequester CO₂ and reduce emissions during manufacture, replacing cement in mix designs.
Basilisk self-healing concrete — developed at Delft University of Technology, this concrete uses limestone-producing bacteria that repair cracks on contact with oxygen and water, keeping the material waterproof indefinitely.
Poikilohydric living walls — façades that integrate algae, moss and lichen capable of switching photosynthetic activity on and off without extra irrigation or maintenance.
BioBased Tile (now Mimmik Tile by FRONT Materials) — the first bio-based tile that grows with the help of bacteria, lowering the CO₂ footprint of a project.
Nature already picked the colour palette: our Bloom collection
The same principle behind these bio-based materials — let nature set the design, not the other way around — is what shaped our own Bloom planters. Instead of standard paint-chart colours, Bloom comes in tones lifted directly from natural landscapes: meadow green, terracotta red and ocean blue. Like the materials above, the colour isn't applied as decoration — it's the starting point.
Meadow Green
From 699 DKK
Terracotta Red
From 699 DKK
Ocean Blue
From 699 DKK
Shop the Bloom Collection →
Bringing it into your own space: natural fibre acoustics
At SQUARELY Copenhagen, we work with exactly this philosophy. Our acoustic panels are made from flax — a renewable natural fibre shaped into organic, circular forms. They absorb sound, help regulate humidity, and pair naturally with planting, so a wall does three jobs at once: it looks good, it sounds better, and it breathes.
Wall Set with Acoustic Panels & Planters
Natural flax acoustic panels combined with integrated planters — sound absorption and biophilic design in one modular wall system.
Shop the Wall Set →
We source materials like Søuld — a natural, renewable, local acoustic material with excellent thermal and moisture regulation that acts as a CO₂ sink and is fully circular and recyclable. It is the same thinking behind eelgrass roofs and straw walls, simply re-engineered for 2026 offices.
Seeing it in a real office: Trifork
This isn't just theory. When IT company Trifork built its new Nordhavn headquarters around sustainable materials and minimalist, low-impact construction, they turned to SQUARELY to bring the same philosophy into the planting. We supplied modular planters crafted from reused wood, self-watering and electricity-free, placed as room dividers and networking-zone markers throughout the office.
Case study: Trifork, Copenhagen
Reused-wood planters as flexible dividers, chosen to match a sustainably built office and a company culture built around self-managed teams and knowledge-sharing.
Read the full Trifork case study →
Looking ahead
Bio-based design isn't really new — it's as old as eelgrass roofs, clay walls and straw insulation. What's surprising is how quickly it's coming back, dressed in 3D-printed geometries, engineered composites and performance testing. We're circling back, but with new tools in hand.
So maybe the real question is this: if the smartest materials of the future look a lot like the ones our ancestors used, what does that say about how we should design today?
Browse our Designer Interiors collection →
See more case studies →
Agnieszka Jacobs, Founder of SQUARELY Copenhagen
Why Bio-Based Design Is Making a Comeback in Modern Offices
Bio-based materials are moving from experimental to mainstream in commercial interiors. But here's the twist: bio-based design isn't new at all. For centuries, people built with what was at hand — and those materials often outperformed the industrial substitutes that came later.
In Denmark, eelgrass roofs on Læsø Island houses were naturally fire-resistant, insulating, and so durable that some lasted more than 200 years. Across Europe, half-timbered houses used infill of straw, reed and clay for thermal mass and humidity regulation that rivals today's "smart" materials. In Japan, tatami mats made of rice straw softened acoustics while controlling humidity. Even Viking ships were caulked with animal hair and moss — a bio-based composite long before polymers existed.
So are we making a circle? In a way, yes — but this time with new tools: engineered composites, 3D printing, and performance testing that let natural materials be reintroduced at scale. What was once common sense is now design innovation. And when paired with greenery, these materials don't just decorate an interior — they lay the foundation for regenerative design: spaces that give back more than they take.
Why bio-based design matters for workplaces
Bio-based materials balance aesthetics, wellbeing and environmental responsibility. They bring warmth and texture where sterility used to rule. They quietly regulate climate and sound. And they prove sustainability can be tangible — something you can touch, see, and even smell.
Doctors office in Copenhagen, Amager
Aesthetics that age with dignity
Sterile white walls and laminates don't spark feelings. Surfaces of wood, straw, cork or algae bring back texture, depth and imperfection — the kind that feels real. Every knot in the wood or fibre in the straw is nature, not a flaw. For interior designers, this is an opportunity to craft spaces that feel sophisticated and alive. Beyond looks, these materials age with dignity: wood patinates, cork softens, clay shifts subtly over time — telling a story of use instead of degrading.
Canteen for Copenhagen's Municipality in Amager
Better for the planet — and provable
Hemp and bamboo capture CO₂ as they grow, waste straw gets a second life as wall infill, and algae bioplastics can decompose instead of sitting in landfills for centuries. Crucially, bio-based materials open the door to a circular economy: components that can be disassembled, recycled, or returned safely to the earth. Many are also locally sourced, cutting transport emissions and supporting regional craft. For clients, that means a project that looks forward and demonstrates measurable climate responsibility.
Examples worth watching
Organoid Surfaces (Austria, available in Denmark) — wallcoverings made from natural fibres like hay, moss, lavender or coffee grounds, adding scent and texture to interiors.
Prometheus Materials' algae bricks — bricks made with a microalgae-based binder that sequester CO₂ and reduce emissions during manufacture, replacing cement in mix designs.
Basilisk self-healing concrete — developed at Delft University of Technology, this concrete uses limestone-producing bacteria that repair cracks on contact with oxygen and water, keeping the material waterproof indefinitely.
Poikilohydric living walls — façades that integrate algae, moss and lichen capable of switching photosynthetic activity on and off without extra irrigation or maintenance.
BioBased Tile (now Mimmik Tile by FRONT Materials) — the first bio-based tile that grows with the help of bacteria, lowering the CO₂ footprint of a project.
Nature already picked the colour palette: our Bloom collection
The same principle behind these bio-based materials — let nature set the design, not the other way around — is what shaped our own Bloom planters. Instead of standard paint-chart colours, Bloom comes in tones lifted directly from natural landscapes: meadow green, terracotta red and ocean blue. Like the materials above, the colour isn't applied as decoration — it's the starting point.
Meadow Green
From 699 DKK
Terracotta Red
From 699 DKK
Ocean Blue
From 699 DKK
Shop the Bloom Collection →
Bringing it into your own space: natural fibre acoustics
At SQUARELY Copenhagen, we work with exactly this philosophy. Our acoustic panels are made from flax — a renewable natural fibre shaped into organic, circular forms. They absorb sound, help regulate humidity, and pair naturally with planting, so a wall does three jobs at once: it looks good, it sounds better, and it breathes.
Wall Set with Acoustic Panels & Planters
Shop the Wall Set →Natural flax acoustic panels combined with integrated planters — sound absorption and biophilic design in one modular wall system.
We source materials like Søuld — a natural, renewable, local acoustic material with excellent thermal and moisture regulation that acts as a CO₂ sink and is fully circular and recyclable. It is the same thinking behind eelgrass roofs and straw walls, simply re-engineered for 2026 offices.
Seeing it in a real office: Trifork
This isn't just theory. When IT company Trifork built its new Nordhavn headquarters around sustainable materials and minimalist, low-impact construction, they turned to SQUARELY to bring the same philosophy into the planting. We supplied modular planters crafted from reused wood, self-watering and electricity-free, placed as room dividers and networking-zone markers throughout the office.
Case study: Trifork, Copenhagen
Read the full Trifork case study →Reused-wood planters as flexible dividers, chosen to match a sustainably built office and a company culture built around self-managed teams and knowledge-sharing.
Looking ahead
Bio-based design isn't really new — it's as old as eelgrass roofs, clay walls and straw insulation. What's surprising is how quickly it's coming back, dressed in 3D-printed geometries, engineered composites and performance testing. We're circling back, but with new tools in hand.
So maybe the real question is this: if the smartest materials of the future look a lot like the ones our ancestors used, what does that say about how we should design today?
Planning an office fit-out or a client project that needs a natural-material story?
Book a Meeting →or email us directly
Browse our Designer Interiors collection →
See more case studies →
Agnieszka Jacobs, Founder of SQUARELY Copenhagen