Start-up wins government grant to develop revolutionary paint

Cyanoskin is a new kind of green wall, an innovative ‘living’ exterior paint for mid and high-rise buildings. Once applied, the photosynthetic paint grows and thickens, creating a living layer that acts as a carbon sink.

This start-up is already winning commercial recognition with awards and major funding. Its team is interdisciplinary designer and material scientist Emma Money and entrepreneur Antoinette Nothomb, working with biochemist Brishti Miller and Cambridge engineer Hayley Huang. They are also exploring ways to foster the growth of moss, for a greater sensory experience. The start-up won the Young Change Makers Grant, the Arts Foundation Regenerative Design nomination and the Climate Entrepreneurs Club Prize. It is also more recently the winner of the Institution of Engineering Net Zero and Future Cities award, competing against BT and AstraZeneca, as well as winning a Net Zero Innovate UK Government grant.

Cyanoskin’s inventor, Emma, is one of the Green Grads, now in its third year, founded in 2021 by design editor Barbara Chandler with Michael Czerwinski of Studio Tucktite, They say, “Our vision is to fuel UK environmental action with new talent from UK Universities.”

There are now 150 Green Grads listed on the website from a wide range of disciplines including engineering, product and furniture design, materials innovation, textiles, interior design and architecture.

Green Grads operate in many different ways. They might choose to tackle one or more of the following issues: nurturing nature,  inventing materials,  designing to last, eliminating waste,  restoring and repairing,  recycling and “closing loops” for a more circular economy,  capturing carbon,  saving energy,  fighting pollution,  conserving resources, and/or rescuing species.

You can see some of these green innovations and meet the graduates at both Grand Designs Live and Clerkenwell Design Week in May.