Research and Development at PCH is focused on deriving insights, technologies and methodologies that serve a symbiotic future industry.
Over several years, projects and experiments, we continue to be drawn to a vision of industry uncoupled from extraction. A model of qualitative, meaningful growth, of self-actualization and healing. We think of it as the Industrial Biome. All of our research activities – from materials to processes and experiences – are informed and enriched by this vision.
How can a factory behave like a forest?
While technology advances exponentially, it continues to serve outdated, socially and environmentally untenable industrial models. This is why we have been committed to exploring alternatives that could heal the means — and the ends — of industry. Over the last few years, this exploration has crystallized into a model we call the Industrial Biome. Drawing inspiration from natural systems, the model seeks to balance emerging fabrication technology and digital infrastructure with empowering human processes and ecological regeneration.
In this article we use the key principles of our Industrial Biome model to think how a factory might be adapted towards a more symbiotic, thriving state.
How can we make circularity more accessible to fashion brands and consumers?
As a proud member of the CISUTAC project for textile circularity, PCH Innovations used their insight into the current textile value chain to identify a key point of optimisation: zipper repair.
As a component that can render a garment functional or broken, the zipper is often deemed too complex or costly to repair leading to high instances of waste.
To address this, with our partner STAM, we developed Rezip: a modular zipper-repair workstation that combines smart automation, hand-held tools and an intuitive interface to guide streamlined zipper repairs of apparel and sporting goods in 10 minutes.
How can we rethink garment disassembly processes to reduce textile waste?
A huge aspect of textile circularity is the disassembly and sorting of materials for reuse and recycling. As a proud member of the CISUTAC consortium, PCH took on the challenge of developing new processes and tools to aid the disassembly of particularly complex, mixed-component apparel: protective workwear.
With our Disassembly Station, we engineered a modular, semi-automated pipeline to facilitate the pre-recycling break down of used firefighter suits and retrieval of valuable materials such as aramid. By laying the technical groundwork for scaling disassembly operations within the EU's textile value chains, we hope to reinforce the path to a more circular economy.
Nvidia x PCH Research Partnership
NVIDIA’s Instant NeRF technology has the power to speed up extended reality (XR) production pipelines by replacing manual digital design processes with an autonomous AI neural network to create 3D renders.
Through our research collaboration with NVIDIA, we were able to apply Instant NeRF to scan and recreate real-world representations of our projects, for exploration via immersive desktop applications or AR/VR/MR headsets.
Changing Matter
A ‘whole innovation’ catalog, Changing Matter is our contemporary homage to the Whole Earth Catalog. We collated the research, insights, ideas and ideals that drove our own journey towards becoming a more regenerative engineering studio into a non-linear encyclopedia.
Explore ↗Mira
Harnessing the poetry of light, our unique caustic technology allows us to engineer custom metal mosaics to reflect hidden words, images and meaning when illuminated by a light source.
Keep up to date on our latest projects, prototypes and publications.