A bit about me...
Hello!
Hello, I'm Chloe Bullock, a Brighton-based interior designer - running Materialise Interiors since 2005 - designing spaces for clients with both commercial and residential projects. I have been working in design since 1994.
I love helping clients who want a more consciously sourced and specified interior - and I mainly work for end users: homeowners and businesses. I have all the regular interior design skills with the ADDITION of an education in sustainability, human-centred design and vegan design.
It's very special to be awarded 'Compassionate Designer' in the 2023 PETA Vegan Homeware Awards. I'm so happy to see such a shift in consciousness my industry and in society regarding what products we use and what happens after their first life. I hope my specialism is mainstream before too long. I'm working on that too, as you'll go on to read below!
Continued learning and professionalism is really important to me. I'm a BIID Registered Interior Designer® at the British Institute of Interior Design and the first interior designer in the UK to be VEGANDESIGN.ORG CERTIFIED™ (IDCEC accredited). I've most recently completed study on regenereative design to be Living Future Accredited. I'm also a Parsons New School 'Healthy Materials advocate' and FitWel® Ambassador - meaning I can guide clients on optimising wellness within their spaces using healthy, human-centric principles used by the WELL Building Standard and Fitwel®. I'm also a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. The organisation encourages industry to work together on challenges that society faces.
INTERIOR DESIGN DECLARES
I'm proud to be one of the nine Founding Signatories of Interior Design Declares, launched in March 2021 for those working in the interior design industry and supply chains to commit to strengthen our working practices to design spaces with a more positive impact on the world around us. I'm now part of the Steering Group which has evolved and we are welcoming designers in other countries to the Declaration. Keep up to date with our progress. JOIN US or Sign up to our NEWSLETTER.
Vegan Business Tribe interview, October 2023
10 years of Sustainable & Vegan design education.... thanks to The Body Shop International
Why animal-friendly, human-friendly and planet-friendly design?
I’m lucky to have an ETHICAL SOURCING AND DESIGN education from the forerunner in ethical business. It's hugely important to how I work.
Prior to setting up my business in 2005, I worked in ethical design and sourcing for 10 years for cruelty free and ethical British skin care and cosmetics company The Body Shop International as part of the retail design team designing and specifying for their stores globally. I was lucky to work in both UK offices (Littlehampton and London) as well as the Australia/ New Zealand office - where I worked in the design team there for 9 months while a store concept was evaluated..
As a furniture design graduate I loved the concept development of new store types we were trialling. The piloted store design concepts had to work globally both in terms of marketing and actual production. Everything used in the store fit was scrutinised by the in-house Business Ethics team. I learnt a great deal whilst working there and the interest has stayed with me ever since.
I love to research and source low environmental impact finishes and materials. There's so many biobased, Next Gen materials to use.
If this is new to you - I’ll be happy to show you options for sustainable, healthy and cruelty free alternatives as part of the design process and you can decide for yourself!
Awards and Accolades
Compassionate Designer award PETA vegan homeware awards 2023
BIID CPD award 2023, continuing professional development
PEA awards 2019, FINALIST
'Woman in Property' award - Business Women Excellence Awards 2018, WINNER
SBID International Design Excellence Award 2015, FINALIST
Consumer Product Design award - New Designers 1993 WINNER
My journey:
I have pursued my huge love of design and history of design throughout my studies. After A levels I did an Art Foundation course and went on to gain an honours degree in Furniture & Product Design from Nottingham Trent University. During this sandwich degree course I spent six months with fine furniture designer maker Charles Thomson, assisting with making and marketing of his high end bespoke work.
I have 28 years 3D design experience. I have freelanced, worked in design offices (both drawing board draughting and CAD), and the in-house retail design team for The Body Shop International for their Global store concept roll-out.
I spent 10 very happy and educational years working for The Body Shop during Anita Roddick's time. It provided the most fantastic grounding in sustainable and cruelty free specifications - designing store fixtures and interior concepts - trialling and rolling them out Globally - working with manufacturers and implementation teams across the World.
Read more on Anita Roddick's influence here
I started Materialise Interiors in 2005. I'm proud that the ethics & values of The Body Shop have continued into my own company. As the years have passed I have shouted about them more in the hope I can influence other companies and designers too.
My learning is ongoing - thanks to being a long term member of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) I have a yearly commitment to continuing my professional development for both my own and my clients' benefit.
Continued learning:
-
'Living Future Accredited' Living Building Challenge 4.0 Regenerative Design April '23
- Healthy Materials Advocate - ART & DESIGN WITH PARSONS CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
Healthier Materials & Sustainable Building
PCID 0605 X1
Materials and Human Health - PCID 0601 Xk1
Building Products and Chemistry - PCID 0602 X1
Healthier Material Design & Specification - PCID 0603 X1
Executing a Healthier Project - PCID 0604 X1 - ONE PLANET LIVING Action Plan and Associate training
- FitWel® Ambassador
- VEGANDESIGN.ORG CERTIFIED™ (IDCEC accredited)
Education and experience
Useful RESOURCES for designers, students and design enthusiasts....
PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATION the British Institute of Interior Design
I'm very proud to have been a BIID Registered Interior Designer® at the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) since 2013. This is the only professional institute for interior designers in the UK recognised by the British Government.
The BIID has a reassuringly challenging joining process to ensure professionalism, ability and qualifications. I became a full member from outset to both assure clients of my abilities but also because I want to keep up my learning and network with my industry.⠀
Our membership ensures proper practice, qualifications, knowledge, insurances & professional development.
Volunteering for the BIID
- Part of the Sustainability Committee to encourage Sustainability throughout the organisation and our members.
- Co-writer of the Sustainable Specification Guide, launched September 2021, being updated 2024
- Devising the Sustainability Strategy for the overarching Strategic Plan for the organisation
- Judge for BIID Student Challenge 2021
- Mentoring
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Panel member
- Sustainability Showcase 2022 - delivered talk on Next Generation Materials with Masters student mentee Sadie Millermaggs
- Talking part in panel discussions, writing articles on behalf of the BIID - ongoing
Are you a designer too? Would you like a POWER HOUR of my support in working more Sustainably?
Interior Design Declares
I have been making lower impact choices for clients spaces for a long time now. All thanks for my educational time early in my career at The Body Shop HQ. At times it has felt a bit of a lonely experience. Answers have taken a long time to come back from any suppliers who I'm quizzing about the composition or other provenances of their products. I ask questions of suppliers that we'd ask at The Body Shop - and still 25 years later I'm not hearing positive answers back. What sort of questions? Well, the headline ones were: Are you using sustainable timber? Does this product contain animal products? Does this product have a recycled content? Does this contain PVC? Paint: what is the VOC content, are the ingredients or the end product tested on animals? These were just a small amount of them.
It's no good just doing this alone with the relatively small buying power of my business. I'm never going to make change in my industry. I've really wanted to inspire others to do work in the way I do - so I have put myself out of my comfort zone to talk in panel discussions and podcasts as well as writing articles and social media content. It's a been a great experience. I've met more and more people working in a similar way. We have more influence on our industry together. I've become more and more involved in my professional body the BIID - and I'm volunteering on two committees (Professional Practice and Sustainability) to increase our commitment and continued education. We are supporting our fellow members on both how we work for clients as well as how we operate our businesses more sustainably.
Fellow BIID commitee members Simone Suss, Brian Woulfe and I decided to form the Interior Design version of the Declarations that have been made within the wider Built Environment industry. We discovered others had shown an interest - so we gathered them with us too. In March 2021 we published our declaration Interior Design Declares.
As we were the first country to have this declaration - we are encouring interior designers in other countries to make their own declaration.
If you are a design company or a supplier of goods or services to our industry - please join us!
Ethics statement
Here's some quick tips on specifying animal, human and planet friendly interiors....
This video gives some tips for creating more positive spaces with lower impact.
You can also read this blog.