Beyond Foam: A New Era of Material Consciousness

What if the comfort of your sofa, the seat of your car, or even the shoes you wear no longer relied on toxic, unrecyclable foam? At London Design Festival 2025, Aram Gallery and EcoLattice invite us to imagine exactly that.

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A Vision Beyond Polyurethane

Foam is everywhere. It props us up, cushions us, and quietly shapes our everyday life. Yet polyurethane foam —the industry standard for decades— comes with a heavy cost: it is toxic, energy-intensive to produce, and nearly impossible to recycle. With Beyond Foam, opening at Aram Gallery in Covent Garden till 1 November 2025, the design world is offered a different story. In this experimental exhibition, curated by material research start-up EcoLattice, eight emerging UK designers unveil what the future of foam might look like: lighter, recyclable, circular.

Curated by Nina Zenhäusern, Beyond Foam invites visitors not only to observe but to touch, to interact, and to rethink. A dedicated material lab offers an intimate encounter with EcoLattice’s lattice foam replacement, grounding innovation in tactile reality.

For Daniel Aram, Managing Director of Aram, the exhibition continues the gallery’s legacy: “An innovative method of production, using recycled and recyclable material, has the potential to replace chemical foams in modern furniture. Beyond Foam is exactly the kind of show our gallery exists to present.”

Eight Designers, Eight Interpretations of Comfort

At the heart of Beyond Foam is a new generation of designers —Arianna Kilachand, Harinad PM, Maria Bravo, Richard Price, Rupert Warries, Shivangi Vasudeva, Tom Howell, and Tomas Thorsson— each tasked with reimagining what seating, rest, and interaction could mean.

Highlights include Eco Fidget: a playful cluster of chairs that reframes fidgeting as a tool for stress relief and concentration; Évoque: a sleek lounger designed for the modern home, balancing elegance and ergonomics; and CorpusForma: a spine-like design that adapts to different postures, offering variety and support in equal measure. Every design is a story of interaction between body and material, of how furniture can evolve into a living dialogue with those who use it.

In a symbolic gesture, the exhibition also reinterprets Eileen Gray’s iconic Bibendum Chair —a design housed within Aram’s own legacy licence— showing how classics can be reborn through sustainable materials.

“Beyond Foam seeks to tackle an overwhelming industry problem,” says Grace Eden, Creative Manager at Aram. “Through strong narrative, bold design, and new materials, visitors will understand how inspiring engineers and designers are reshaping the status quo.”

Beyond Foam is more than a showcase. It is a glimpse into a world where design does not compromise comfort for conscience. It is a dialogue between material innovation and cultural legacy, between the urgent need for sustainability and the timeless pursuit of beauty. In the context of London Design Festival 2025, it stands as a reminder: the future of luxury is not in excess but in reinvention.