In Nature Squared’s Philippines workshops, eggshells from local bakeries turn into terrazzo-like tiles. Fishing industry waste—capiz fragments, fish skins, oyster shells—transforms into luminous inlays. What others discard becomes raw material for architectural innovation in the hands of the brand’s 250 artisans.
Now, the Swiss-based surfaces manufacturer—which celebrates 25 years in 2025—finds an ideal American partner in Thomas Riley Artisans’ Guild, the Naples woodworking atelier known for its museum-grade, custom millwork. The teams met during a yacht refurbishment project, facilitated by interior architect Suzanne Lovell (whom we feature in this issue for her boundary-spanning design approach). “We recognized that they were making things at the same ultra-high level that we do,” says Matt Riley, CEO of the 34-year-old woodworking studio founded by his father.
Behind each surface stands Lay Koon Tan and Paul Hoeve—business school friends who founded the company in 2000—and their best-in-class team of materials experts, project managers and artisans. “We started this company at a time when ‘craft’ was deeply out of fashion; sustainability wasn’t a fashionable issue,” Tan says of the industrialized methods that dominated design at the turn of the century. “To see it come around is wonderful.”
Courtesy Nature Squared
Courtesy Nature Squared
Courtesy Nature Squared
Courtesy Nature Squared
On any given day, materials experts test seashells’ resilience and designers draft proposals for lofty architectural elements. In other corners of the world, representatives gather mussels from sustainable farms; while, in the Philippines, craftspeople weave gossamer-thin strands of abaca and buri fibers into herringbone matrices and arrange fragments of abalone into luminous mosaics. Processes draw on generations of Philippine craft traditions, reimagined with modern engineering for contemporary spaces.
The roughly 60 organic materials they use are all sourced from fast-growing plants or industry byproducts (bamboo from construction, shells from fishing). The library extends to unexpected sources, such as eggshells, mango seeds, termite nests and fish skins—part of the brand’s resolute commitment to circular design. “This is stuff that nobody has seen before,” Riley adds.
In November, the guild introduced Nature Squared’s surfaces in their recently renovated showroom. The partnership brings the brand to the U.S. market, broadening accessibility beyond the niche world of ultra-high-net-worth individuals’ superyachts and palatial estates. For Tan and Hoeve, the greater achievement lies in helping create sustainable economies in low-income communities (more waste diverted from landfills, more local economies supported, more heritage crafts preserved).
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Courtesy Nature Squared
Nature Squared sustainable surfaces feather plucking
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Courtesy Thomas Riley Artisans’ Guild
Nature Squared sustainable surfaces doors
Dark pen shell panels transform fridge doors into art in the newly renovated Thomas Riley showroom. Sustainably sourced pheasant feathers, banana bark, eggshells and fish bones are just some of the discards Nature Squared reimagines as treasures.
In the North Naples showroom, Nature Squared’s philosophy materializes across varied collections: Swatches showcase UV-resistant Pastorale and Ilimitada lines with hand-harvested plant fibers woven into textural arrangements, while the Traces line offers hand-cast eggshell surfaces impressed with coral-like textures. A kitchen anchors the space with striking refrigerator doors, clad in dark pen shell panels, resembling volcanic glass.
The surfaces resonate in our Gulfside setting, where coastal living demands mindful material choices and residents yearn for an enhanced connection to the natural world. In a Naples penthouse, bespoke basket weave panels add organic texture to an urbane maximalist space. Other projects feature scallop shell impressions echoing fossilized records and tobacco leaves creating the patina of aged leather. “There’s an innate connection to the materials being utilized and dimension to them that makes you want to touch them,” Riley adds.
For his team, the collaboration also surpasses aesthetics. “What resonated with us was the attention to detail, the quality control. We know that we can cut the panels to size, make modifications, and do bespoke projects with hundreds of surfaces in different materials and color combinations at the same high level of execution we’re already doing,” he says.
Courtesy Nature Squared
Courtesy Nature Squared
Courtesy Nature Squared
Courtesy Nature Squared
Suitable for walls, flooring, counters, furnishings—even as framed artworks—the panels flex from decorative details to architectural statements. Luxury brands have taken note. In 2017, Nature Squared devised a concept for Rolls-Royce to adorn the Phantom’s Gallery dashboard with 3,000 hand-sewn iridescent feathers. Other collaborators have included Cartier, Tiffany, and British designer Bethan Gray, who they worked with for a line of sculpturally etched, pearlescent furnishings. Now, with Thomas Riley Artisans’ Guild and a new Gulfshore clientele, the possibilities are endless.