A reclaimed material has had a previous life. The interesting question is what the maker does with it next.
At Stratum, that question becomes a pattern. Timber and plastic offcuts are sorted, arranged and brought together in surfaces for objects, furniture and interiors. A line of grain meets a block of colour; small differences become part of the design. The result is not simply an object with an environmental adjective attached. It is a particular way of working.
That distinction is useful when choosing something for your home. “Reclaimed” can tell you something meaningful about an input. It does not, on its own, tell you everything about the finished object.
Start with the material, not the adjective
Ask which part has been reclaimed or recycled. Is it the timber in a surface, the plastic in a pattern, the structure underneath—or several of these? A precise answer is more useful than a broad promise.
Stratum’s founders, Dan Burke Thomson and Ravi Bains, describe gathering timber and plastic offcuts through relationships with other businesses and makers, alongside their waste-material rescue service. In their Nancegollan workshop, timber is organised by tone and plastic by colour. The available material helps shape the pattern.
That account explains a design decision as well as a sourcing decision. It does not give us a percentage for the reclaimed content of every finished product, and we would not turn it into one.
Follow the work into the object
A material needs more than a new name to become something useful. It has to be selected, shaped and joined; the finished piece has to suit the job it is being bought for. This is where a maker’s contribution becomes visible.
Stratum offers a helpful distinction between different scales of work. The founders tell us their current cabinet handles are made entirely in their own workshop. For kitchens and other larger projects, Apply Works supports CNC machining. Both belong to Stratum’s practice, but they are not identical production routes.
For a buyer, the small handle is an appealing place to begin: a patterned detail on something touched every day. A larger commission calls for a different conversation about specification, installation and how the surface will be used.
Ask about life after delivery
Before choosing a piece, find out how to clean it, what finishes it has and whether a damaged part can be repaired or replaced. For a handle, ask about fixings and dimensions. For a worktop or larger surface, ask about its suitability for that particular room and use.
These are not tests of whether a maker has the right vocabulary. They are practical questions that help match an object to a household. A beautiful material is more useful when you understand how to live with it.
Leave room for an honest answer
Reclaimed content is not a calculation of the whole product’s environmental impact. Processing, other components, transport and the object’s eventual life still matter. Without evidence for a particular comparison, there is no need to claim that one piece has “zero impact” or is automatically better than every alternative.
What we find compelling about Stratum is more specific: material that another business no longer needs becomes a considered arrangement of grain, tone and colour. The design gives the material a reason to be wanted again.
That is a good starting point for choosing well. Look for a clear account of the inputs, an identifiable making contribution and an object you genuinely want to keep using.
Meet Stratum and explore the people and workshop behind the patterns.
Reporting: Stratum’s submission and follow-up correspondence, reflected in our maker profile. Production and sourcing details are attributed to the makers.
