I’m primarily an eco-architect and as such I always look to create buildings and spaces that are inherently natural, healthy, breathe and work to respond to the natural environment.

I want to be able to use products that not only look great and feel luxurious but also have eco credentials to match, while being 100% safe.

So I set out to develop a luxurious, durable, breathable finish for wooden floors and architectural elements that would be natural and 100% safe without compromise. It had to look amazing and bring out the natural beauty but also have the eco credentials to match.

I had previously undertaken an MA at Oxford Brookes University where I sought to investigate ways to improve the weatherability of earthen dwellings through the use of natural stabilisers. The knowledge gained through that investigation directly informed the research and development of this finish. It took a few years but I finally got there and this year I have a patent pending for Chalkbarn Hard Wax Oil.

It has been designed to be a completely safe and healthy alternative for the treatment of internal wooden flooring. Besides being completely eco, the hard wax oil has also been designed to enhance the natural look and feel of the wood to give a luxurious satin matt finish. It is also suitable for any architectural elements such as windows and door surrounds but, equally, it’s great for furniture too.

Chalkbarn is currently only selling the Hard Wax Oil for interior use, but testing has shown that it also performs exceptionally well for exterior application. However, further long-term testing will be required before we can market the product for this application.

We are also developing a range of chalk paints and polished clay plasters, which we also hope will be on the market in the near future.

So far we have only been selling on a project-order basis, but from the beginning of this year we are gearing up to sell our tins through specialist merchants to reach the end user. We are also exploring other possibilities such as collaborating with flooring and furniture companies wishing to explore their own eco-line using Chalkbarn Hard Wax Oil. We have a small manufacturing facility in Wiltshire, which at the moment is only sufficient for relatively small orders.

However, we are in the process of setting up a larger-scale facility as we plan to launch the product onto the market at the beginning of March.

Up until now Chalkbarn Hard Wax Oil has been produced on a project basis by word of mouth as we have not actively marketed it.

Once we launch it actively in the first quarter of next year, however, we believe its look, performance and eco credentials will help set it apart and it will be an eco success story, illustrating that you shouldn’t have to compromise on health and the environment to achieve a luxurious finish.