Living Assembly

Cellulose is the most abundant biological molecule on Earth, forming the scaffolding of plant life. Humans have long depended on plant-based cellulose for building and manufacturing—but what if we could engineer it biologically? 

Our lab begins with bacterial cellulose: a material spun by microbes from sugar from aggricultural waste, forming dense mats with leather-like properties. We then introduce a second, genetically engineered microbe that modifies the cellulose as it forms. This microbe can sense signals like light and respond by producing melanin pigment—allowing us to control colour, pattern, and tone across the material. 

The result is an Engineered Living Material—responsive, patterned, and expressive. The structure you see, the Prototree, has been generated by mapping sunlight through this space. Brass branches grow in areas of high light, ending in “leaves” made from our material, each one curated by light exposure. 

It’s a glimpse into a new material future—where biology, computation, and design converge to shape living, adaptive architectures. 

EmbryOME 3: Prototree 

<sub>By
Northumbria University
Design Team:
Martyn Dade-Roberstson
Liv Tsim
Thora Arnardottir
Aileen Hoenerloh
Dilan Ozkan

Scientific Team:
Meng Zhang
Katie Gilmour
Jamie Haystead
Paul James
Mingale Jackson
Subhadeep Paul
Warispreet Singh

Imperial College London
Tom Ellis

Funding:  
EPSRC: Living Manufacture (EP/V050710/1) 
BBSRC: Sustainable Style for Clean Growth (BB/Y007735/1)</sub>

Complex Pringles explores the mineral dimension of human composition, where life and microbial forces co-shape material form. In this project, double-curved geometries are extracted from the exhibition architecture and reimagined through 3D-printed frames stretched with fabric, echoing the tactility of fabric-cast concrete. The biomineralisation process is catalysed by Sporosarcina pasteurii, a bacterium that actively precipitates calcium carbonate, solidifying saturated sand over the course of a week. 

Each artefact emerges from a negotiation of precision and emergence, balancing the desired form’s narrow centre with the weight of the sand and the metabolic activity of bacteria. This process demands fine-tuned control, catalysing reactants, managing microbial viability, and responding to the shifting interplay between geometry and mineralisation. Complex Pringles challenges the authorship of design, and celebrates the negotiation between control and emergence, geometry and biological unruliness. 

Complex Pringles: Microbially Sculpted Mineral Forms 

_{By:
Northumbria University
Thora Arnardottir  
Martyn Dade-Robertson
Meng Zhang}

_{Cornell University
Laura Gonzalez} 

This project explores mycelial growth as a foundation for developing agential materials—materials capable of sensing, responding to, and adapting to their environment. Unlike conventional materials, agential materials exhibit high levels of agency, with individual cells acting as agents that perceive signals and drive morphological changes. Focusing on the mycelium species Fomes fomentarius and Trametes versicolor, this research examines how environmental factors, particularly light, influence hyphal density and growth patterns. 

Preliminary findings reveal that controlled light exposure can induce distinct morphological patterns, such as ring formations, demonstrating light’s potential as a regulatory stimulus. By leveraging light to influence mycelial growth, this approach aims to establish a novel, light-driven biofabrication technique, enabling the creation of materials with custom properties and functional gradients. 

This study not only advances the understanding of mycelium’s responsive behaviour but also positions it as a versatile material for innovative applications in design, architecture, and biotechnology. 

Agential Mycelium 

_{By:
Northumbria University
Dilan Ozkan 
Martyn Dade-Robertson 
Meng Zhang} 

This project presents a bioreactor developed through creative experimentation during doctoral research into bacterial cellulose (BC) as a living material for design. Positioned at the intersection of design and microbiology, the work proposes a methodology that integrates material growth into the design process. 

The bioreactor enables the cultivation of BC into three-dimensional forms by employing controlled aeration and custom scaffolding, moving beyond traditional post-growth moulding of flat sheets. This approach explores the self-forming potential of BC, identifying key environmental parameters that influence its morphology and spatial complexity. The system supports an iterative mode of making in which biological processes and design intent are interdependent. 

Additionally, the project investigates preservation techniques to document the rapid transformations and ephemeral qualities of the material. The bioreactor functions both as a fabrication tool and research device, offering insights into how living systems can inform new modes of material thinking and experimental design practice. 

Living Morphogenesis:
Bacteria-guided fabrication 

_{By:
Northumbria University
Aileen Hoenerloh}  

Dirty ELMs (Engineered Living Materials) is a project exploring the responsiveness of Bacterial Cellulose (BC) as a building material composite. 

The green tiles are made from a biopolymer paste based on waste materials, such as sawdust and hay, as well as natural binders to create a mouldable texture. The paste is enriched with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY), capable of synthesising BC. SCOBY are particularly resilient to contamination, enabling their application in non-sterile environments. The green colour of the paste is achieved through the addition of spirulina powder used as a natural dye. 

The transparent biofilms in between the tiles are cultivated following traditional methods for BC, which naturally forms into flat sheets at the surface of liquid cultures. While the natural colour of the BC grown in a tea medium is a soft orange, the addition of beetroot juice to the medium can create vibrant pink and red hues. 

This material can self-repair by growing a responsive BC skin over damaged areas, showcasing environmental adaptability beyond traditional synthetic materials. 

Dirty ELMs 

_{By:
Northumbria University 
Aileen Hoenerloh
Fang Zheng
Martyn Dade-Robertson}
^{Meng Zhang}

Cresco was set up to develop methods and processes for scaling biocalcification technology for potential mass manufacture applications in construction and beyond. Biocalcification relies on microbes that are capable of precipitating calcium carbonate, the predominant mineral in limestone. Biocalcification is a potentially carbon negative process, which has huge promise for production of low carbon, or even carbon negative, materials for one of the world’s most carbon intensive activities: construction.  The tiles here are made from waste stone aggregates which have been bound together by calcium carbonate crystals deposited by biocalcifying microbes. Stone bound by biostone. The process used for manufacturing the tiles was developed by Cresco in collaboration with Northumbria University and the HBBE to overcome some of the scaling limitations of previous biocalcification research by focusing on reducing moulding times and improving process consistency. A pilot facility for manufacture of low carbon construction boards and other interior products is under development.

Scalable Biomanufacture: Grown Stone Tiles 

<sub>By:
Cresco Biotech Ltd
Ed Jones 
Ege Savas

Northumbria University
Meng Zhang
Jamie Haystead</sub> 

BioDynamic Hygroscapes 

_{By:
Northumbria University
Emily Birch}