Several years ago our retail clients starting asking questions for which we had few answers. And they weren’t terribly complicated. Where does this material come from? How is it manufactured? Are there any toxins present? Can it be recycled or repurposed? Is it composed of recycled content? And many more. Our clients were pressing us to make more informed decisions regarding each material specified on their behalf, especially those that potentially have lasting impact on their customers and planet. The real problem we faced was not being able to answer those questions, it was finding manufacturers willing to share this kind of information. Even today, many companies hide behind the claim that revealing such knowledge is the same as disclosing proprietary protected processes. It became obvious that we would need to dig deeper and work harder.

That effort led to more than five years of research, of building relationships with alternative material manufacturers, of developing a network of suppliers, and turning to alternative sources of raw building material (including our client’s dumpsters). The more we learned, the more we realized the need to share this information with design colleagues and the industries we serve.

This site is one part of a multi-channel approach to disseminate compelling and useful sustainable ideas, resources, and design. We believe that conversation with a wider audience on a larger scale is vital to bring about building development and design that will speed the transition from industrial age thinking to sustainable age business models. We encourage you to engage us in the broader dialogue necessary to bring about meaningful change.

threadcollaborative is a design, research, and consulting firm focused on sustainable strategies for retail environments with an emphasis on uncommon materials and unique sourcing strategies. Clients include Whole Foods Market, Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, The Kroger Co., PlayNetwork, and many more small and large operators. The strength of their relationships with product manufacturers and their distinctive resource procurement programs both ensure  access to products unavailable to other designers. The firm was founded in 2009 by Kevin Foster O’Donnell and R. Aleida Montejo. Click on the photos to the left for background info on each.