Fish Scale Plastic (round)

This material is made from compacted fish scales which are heated under pressure, creating a solid composite. Everyone who picks up this material, once told it is made of fish scales, always smells it. It doesn’t smell of fish. It doesn’t really smell at all - the manufacturing process completely sterilises the scales, so there is no residual odour or essence of the fish remaining.

The designer who made this went on to brand and sell it as ‘scalite’, a stone-like alternative to MDF or concrete that they proposed for use in furniture, interiors and product design applications.