Wool is best known for keeping people warm. But what happens when it is used to make rigid building materials, replace components of conventional growing media, or rethink pillow construction?
Those questions sit at the heart of the 2026 Innovation in Wool Awards, which recognise three diverse businesses developing new commercial applications for the fibre. Selected from five finalists, the winners show how wool's physical properties can be used in products that extend well beyond its traditional markets.
Wull Technologies won the main award for LAMDA, a rigid material made from 100% British sheep wool. SilviBio received the second award for its peat-free growing media, while Devon Duvets took third place for its Folding Pillow.
Together, the projects illustrate a broader challenge for the wool industry: how to turn the properties of a renewable natural fibre into products that are technically useful, commercially viable and capable of creating new demand for wool.
The awards are funded by The Woolmen’s Company Charitable Incorporated Organisation, The Company of the Merchants of the Staple of England Charitable Trust, the Lord Barnby Foundation and supported by the Campaign for Wool. Projects may involve clothing, interiors, construction, insulation, agriculture, aquaculture, medicine, science or other industrial applications of wool.
Main Award: Wull Technologies transforms wool into a rigid material
Wool is naturally soft and flexible. Wull Technologies has developed a process designed to change that. Its LAMDA material transforms British sheep wool into a rigid, self-supporting panel without adding a separate binder. The process uses no plastic binders, synthetic carrier fibres, resins, starches, latex or other natural or man-made binding agents. Instead, the wool itself forms the structure.
That distinction was central to the judges' decision. LAMDA is not simply a composite product containing wool; the fibre is the material and the binding mechanism.
The first commercial application is LAMDA Hush, a range of acoustic panels and baffles for interior environments. The company has already sold acoustic baffles into the Sister Building in Manchester, moving the technology beyond the prototype stage and towards wider commercial use.
The material's potential applications extend further. Rigid packaging is one possibility, while internal and external thermal insulation systems could offer future opportunities, subject to further testing and accreditation.
LAMDA also addresses an economic challenge for British sheep farmers. Coarser wool can have fewer traditional textile outlets, despite its useful physical properties. By incorporating substantial volumes of wool into a rigid manufactured product, the technology creates a potential route into higher-value commercial markets. At an indicative density of about 140kg per cubic metre, LAMDA uses around 140kg of clean British wool per cubic metre of material.
The innovation has also attracted broader environmental interest, with Wull Technologies nominated for The Earthshot Prize 2027. Its recognition in the Innovation in Wool Awards comes as businesses and researchers continue to explore how natural materials can be adapted for new uses.
Second Award: SilviBio looks to utilise wool for a peat-free growing media
The second award recognises SilviBio's PROPA growing media, developed to help growers move towards peat-free alternatives.
As legislation will phase-out and restrict the use of peat in professional horticulture from 2030 along with the current unstable transportation issues, and with poor water retention, a suitable alternative is urgently required. Peat has long been used in horticulture, but reducing reliance on it creates a technical challenge: alternative substrates must provide the physical structure and moisture management that plants and growers need.
SilviBio's approach uses wool within a growing-medium system designed around peat-free production. Its technology combines mechanical processing to produce mouldable structures with biotechnology intended to support plant growth and reduce fertiliser requirements.
Wool's ability to hold moisture within its fibres, its mechanical strength, and its biodegradability make it a promising material for this application. SilviBio's product highlights improved water retention and transplantability, alongside the potential for a scalable supply chain. The innovation shows how wool could fit into horticulture, a market with different performance requirements than the fashion and interiors sectors where the fibre is more familiar.
Third Award: Devon Duvets redesigns the everyday pillow
Innovation does not always require a completely new material. Sometimes it comes from rethinking how an existing product is made.
Devon Duvets, a family business based in Devon, received the third award for its Folding Pillow. Made with British wool and natural cotton, the design uses separate wool-filled sections, unfilled hinge areas, and an integral pocket that lets the pillow fold over on itself multiple times to create diverse support levels. The construction is intended to make the pillow easier to open out and air between uses, while allowing the whole product to be washed when required without removing the wool filling. Different folding configurations offer varying levels of support.
The idea applies wool's established qualities to a practical problem in everyday bedding: how to maintain comfort while simplifying care. By combining British wool with local craftsmanship and considered product design, Devon Duvets shows another route to innovation: improving the usefulness and longevity of a familiar product rather than replacing its core material.
Innovation with commercial purpose
The Innovation in Wool Awards were established in 2018 to recognise advances in wool-related projects and technologies. The awards focus on commercially viable applications, with criteria including the value offered to British wool farming, the use of British wool fibre, and British manufacturing.
Dame Mary Archer led the 2026 judging panel, which included Judith Donovan of the Woolmen Livery Company; Robert Hall of the Merchants of the Staple of England; the Countess Charlotte Peel of The Lord Barnby Foundation; and Diane Almond of the Campaign for Wool.
Sir David Wootton of The Woolmen Livery Company said “The three winning projects approach innovation from different directions. LAMDA truly innovative development changes wool's physical form, SilviBio explores its potential as an alternative growing substrate and replacement for a restricted fibre, and Devon Duvets reconsiders how a familiar household product is physically recrafted. What connects them is the effort to develop applications where wool is not simply an ingredient, but a material with a specific role.”
Building the future of wool
The awards come as the Campaign for Wool continues to promote wool's versatility and encourage new applications across the international supply chain.
The Campaign's Chairman, Ian Maclean MBE says of the awards: “It is a pleasure to be involved and facilitate the Innovation in Wool Awards for the first time as Chairman of the Campaign for Wool. This year’s winners demonstrate wool's remarkable potential when its natural properties meet fresh thinking and a willingness to challenge convention. Supporting ideas that create new markets for wool is vital for the future of our industry and the British farmers who produce it. My congratulations to all three winners, and to every finalist working to give wool new purpose.”
His appointment provides continuity as the Campaign works with farmers, manufacturers, designers, brands and retailers to raise awareness of wool's natural properties and its potential across different markets.
For wool to compete in new sectors, its natural credentials must be matched by product performance, commercial readiness and clear value for customers. The 2026 Innovation in Wool Awards highlight three different ways businesses are working towards that goal.
