A material produced by bacteria has joined the innovation winners of this year's Metropolis Planet Positive Awards. The US architecture magazine recognised Spanish contract furniture manufacturer Andreu World for its BIO thermopolymer. Its base material is produced through fermentation and is used in designs by Patricia Urquiola, among others. Andreu World is the only furniture manufacturer among the winners in the innovation categories.
This year's innovation awards also recognised a repurposed warehouse, a decarbonised government building and a community campus. And, alongside them, a material for seating. Andreu World won in the category "Innovation in Material Use in Products". The ceremony took place in San Francisco on 30 September, with 56 awards presented across the programme. The innovation jury included Felix Heisel, director of the Circular Construction Lab at Cornell University. These were specialists in sustainable construction and circularity, rather than seating comfort.
Founded in 1955 in Alaquàs near Valencia, Andreu World likes to describe BIO as a plastic that is not a plastic. The distinction lies in its origins. Instead of petroleum, the material relies on a biological base produced through the fermentation of genetically modified bacteria. Natural fillers and plant-based additives complete the compound. Some of the workforce is, strictly speaking, microscopic. TÜV Austria awarded BIO four stars under the previous OK biobased certification system. That rating required a biobased carbon content of at least 80 percent. The certification verifies the origin of the material, however, not its compostability. TÜV Austria revised the classification system in 2026.
There is an intriguing tension here. A contract chair is supposed to do one thing above all: last. Andreu World claims BIO can do that while also offering a different end-of-life option. According to the manufacturer, the material delivers mechanical properties comparable to conventional thermopolymers, durability similar to wood, and resistance to UV radiation, rain and heat. At the same time, Andreu World describes it as biodegradable and compostable, without leaving microplastics behind. The company provides a ten-year warranty on its furniture. The question is therefore not just how well BIO performs during use, but under what conditions it can actually break down afterwards. Ideally, that question will not become urgent for quite some time.
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A material produced by bacteria has joined the innovation winners of this year's Metropolis Planet Positive Awards. The US architecture magazine recognised Spanish contract furniture manufacturer Andreu World for its BIO thermopolymer. Its base material is produced through fermentation and is used in designs by Patricia Urquiola, among others. Andreu World is the only furniture manufacturer among the winners in the innovation categories.
This year's innovation awards also recognised a repurposed warehouse, a decarbonised government building and a community campus. And, alongside them, a material for seating. Andreu World won in the category "Innovation in Material Use in Products". The ceremony took place in San Francisco on 30 September, with 56 awards presented across the programme. The innovation jury included Felix Heisel, director of the Circular Construction Lab at Cornell University. These were specialists in sustainable construction and circularity, rather than seating comfort.
Founded in 1955 in Alaquàs near Valencia, Andreu World likes to describe BIO as a plastic that is not a plastic. The distinction lies in its origins. Instead of petroleum, the material relies on a biological base produced through the fermentation of genetically modified bacteria. Natural fillers and plant-based additives complete the compound. Some of the workforce is, strictly speaking, microscopic. TÜV Austria awarded BIO four stars under the previous OK biobased certification system. That rating required a biobased carbon content of at least 80 percent. The certification verifies the origin of the material, however, not its compostability. TÜV Austria revised the classification system in 2026.
There is an intriguing tension here. A contract chair is supposed to do one thing above all: last. Andreu World claims BIO can do that while also offering a different end-of-life option. According to the manufacturer, the material delivers mechanical properties comparable to conventional thermopolymers, durability similar to wood, and resistance to UV radiation, rain and heat. At the same time, Andreu World describes it as biodegradable and compostable, without leaving microplastics behind. The company provides a ten-year warranty on its furniture. The question is therefore not just how well BIO performs during use, but under what conditions it can actually break down afterwards. Ideally, that question will not become urgent for quite some time.