Change shouldn't mean waste
The world moves fast. There’s always pressure to keep up, with new ideas and renovations. But change shouldn’t mean waste.
At Surface Matter, we believe even the trickiest materials have BIG POTENTIAL.
Plastics. Polymers. Surfaces with unusual coatings. With the right planning, none of them need to go to landfill. Who knows what they could be used for next?
We started out as Proud Materialists in 2013. Obsessed with materials, we’ve gone to great lengths to find exciting materials and get to know every last detail, connecting people with the right materials to use on the right projects to really make the job.
Whether you’re choosing something beautiful or organising a takeback, we’re here to help you keep quality materials valuable forever.
We exist to keep quality materials in circulation to give people opportunities to make better design choices. Because change shouldn’t mean waste.
We believe in material potential
We want to live in a world where single-use is singled-out, and where we can equip everyone to make materials more useful, with every use. Shapeshifting the ingredients we already have instead of harmfully going after new, adding new value with every lifecycle.
What we do
We select and supply the best
We share what we know
We make new life possible
We’re not afraid to take on problems other people avoid. Even if we don’t have all the answers or something won’t be hugely profitable straight away, we’ve got a sense of duty to bring it into the fold. We love a side challenge.
No lies. And more importantly, no white lies. Where others jump on the green bandwagon and exaggerate, we’re truthful about how sustainable our business is and where we’re at. This extends to our customers too – if we think your project would be better tweaked, we’ll tell you.
It’s a cliché, but good partnerships really are crucial to us. We’re all about people, with high standards on the kinds of people we work with and how we treat them in return. We’ve built industry-wide connections on shared values.
We’re practical and pragmatic, always geeking out on the tiny technical details that make a material fit for purpose. But we also love design. (You’ll never see us with a tacky leaflet or a boring display stand.) This eye for both makes us the perfect bridge between manufacturers and designers.
Sometimes to move forward you have to work backwards. We believe in thinking beyond here and now. Real change that goes beyond compostable boxes. From tracking our carbon footprint and reducing the resources we use, to finding better ways of working and encouraging everyone in our network do the same to help protect the planet.
We care about giving back and building a better community. From sharing inspiration to creating opportunities and enhancing skills. We volunteer our time and space, speak to the next generation of designers, and support programmes leading positive change.
Join our team
Good partnerships are crucial to us. We're all about people and have high standards on the kinds of people we work with, and how we treat them in return. We've built industry wide connections on shared values.
We're a Living Wage Employer and we support employment, education and mentoring projects with Open City Accelerate, Built by Us and Design Can. We want everyone in our team to feel good and grow with us, and welcome any race, religion, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability and social, financial, cultural or educational background.
When we're hiring for a role you'll find it linked here, or register your interest on Stryve.
