WeWantMore creates an experimental bar with mycelium that grows in time

The 2022 edition of HIX London —an event that brings the international hospitality community together— took place under the theme ‘Great things will grow’ and Belgium-based WeWantMore studio grasped the theme and realised it into their design. The Mush Room was an experimental installation made from mycelium—that actually grows—that acts as a bar counter. While exploring mycelium as a design material, the installation sprouted and grew over the period of production to the event.

Though mycelium is a widely explored material in product design, WeWantMore studio envisioned the project to transcend the bar and create a large-scale installation. Owing to the unique material and scale, the project required a lot of attention from conception to execution. Due to this reason, for the production of the installation, the Belgium studio collaborated with the creative studio La Succulente and French artist Côme Di Meglio. Di Meglio’s Les Pierres Sauvages for a series of architectures made of mycelium that came to the aid of the design studio to realise the design on site.

The organic design of the mycelium bar draws inspiration from the shapes and textures found in and on shells. Through the structure of the bar, the designers bring forth their statement that nature illustrates an infinite source of inspiration for the design. “The overall shape of the mycelium bar has a sacral feel to it, almost like a tomb – a metaphor for burying a traditional way of thinking and reflecting on new ideas when designing spaces,” shares the design studio.

In their design for Bath & Barley too, WeWantMore explored the diverse uses of incorporating the raw materials of beer into interior design. Building on its unique approaches to material experiences, the design studio appears to experiment in an intriguing and innovative manner. Their design principles centre on the goal of communicating emotions through design. “In a rapidly evolving world, we believe in the power of design to make people feel. Preferably happiness. Goosebumps. Excitement. An emotion that brings and holds people together. Destroys boundaries. That’s why we pursue it in everything we create,” mentions the studio’s design approach.

The experimental installation that functions as a furniture piece in The Mush Room extends to the possibility of design collaborating with nature in infinite ways, instigating a unique conversation about the possibilities the design world encounters. The mushrooms growing and evolving into a newer experience of the design reconnect, symbolically and practically, human interactions and nature. Estonia-based biotechnology company Myceen’s designs which bring together mushroom mycelium and industrial byproducts deal with similar lines of biomaterial innovations on a smaller scale.