Our story

 

The Laboratory of Things (LAB) was imagined by Mark, in response to working in the design industry as a product designer and seeing mass manufacturing production and the use of non sustainable manufacturing processes. He wanted to create a more sustainable future in homewares and gifts.

 

LAB believe products can be beautiful, good quality and sustainable, and it is our mission to prove that in the products we design and make. We want choosing sustainable products to be the standard.

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Our products  

 

All the magic happens in our shop and workshop in Bristol from in house designing to posting our products to our lovely customers.​

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We're committed to using environmentally friendly packaging with minimal waste.

 

As you'll see from the photos, we don't smooth the finish on our products, because for us they are more beautiful just as they are.  Some are hand painted by our in house artists, such as the skulls and animal horns.

 

If you need a different colour or variation, or want something bespoke created then please get in touch and we'll see what we can do.  

 

We also have a design and print service, the 3D Print Shop

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Our production 

 

3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that builds an object layer by layer until the finished product is complete. This means less waste, as we’re printing things from scratch, rather than starting with a block of material, like metal, cutting it and throwing away the bits we don’t use. 

 

Unlike mass production techniques, which tend to use high energy print processes, we are a small business using low energy 3D printing method and small scale production, reducing our carbon foot print. 

 

We have a continuous improvement culture and ongoing ambition to become more sustainable in every aspect of our business activities. We continually review what we do, identifying opportunities for change and making decisions that support us in creating a more sustainable future in home accessories.

 

Our materials 

 

Filament is the material used in 3D printing. Strands of filament are fed into the printer, a bit like cotton on the wheel of a sewing machine, they then melt and work in layers to produce the object.

 

We use Polylactic Acid (PLA) filament (don’t be put off by the name!). PLA Is considered eco-friendly because it is made from a renewable source, which largely comes from corn, it doesn’t release toxic fumes like other non eco filaments, is low heat resistant, recyclable and biodegradable over time.