Q1 2026 - Season's Harvest Begins for the Big River Collection

Q1 2026 - Season's Harvest Begins for the Big River Collection

Over the past few months we focused on executing several key milestones. We're thrilled to share some big updates on what’s been happening behind the scenes at Primitives, along with our new architectural surfaces brand Marblis and debut product Urchinite™ the world's first sea urchin marble. 

First off, we have officially launched our Urchinite Big River Collection and you are invited to our launch party on April 22 on during SF Climate week in Berkeley, CA.

In the News

Our work was recently featured in Sunset Magazine, grab a copy at the store or take a look online! In case you missed it, our work was also covered in the New York Times and SF Chronicle. 


Science

Kelp Restoration: This season’s kelp restoration efforts at a 5-acre site in Big River in Mendocino, California have begun and our conservation partners at The Nature Conservancy have been harvesting sea urchins.

Technology: We have successfully converted our provisional into a PCT filing for our technology in producing biomineral compositions for a range of uses. In addition, we have improved our material formulations and processing technology to manufacture large scale, production-ready biocalcite engineered stones. 

Performance: Materials performance testing are complete, with Urchinite having results that either outperform or are comparable to competing countertop materials. See the datasheet below, or in pg 9 of our digital lookbook. 

Production

Urchinite Big River Collection: Our pilot catalog is complete with our new Urchinite 2026 Collection, with natural colors and patterns that are reminiscent of the Pacific coastline ranging from foggy tones like snowcap brine to dark hues like deep dulse. See the designs on our online catalog.   

Packaging Design: We have completed our packaging design for our sample boxes and it is now in production. The result is a design that is structural, re-usable, eco-friendly, and designed to fit neatly as part of our customers' materials library.  

Urchin Processing: We have successfully secured a site through the support of the City of Ukiah, to process purple sea urchins harvested from kelp restoration sites. Processing is set to begin in the next three months and materials will be used to produce sample boxes and products for this summer’s pilot.

Pilot Program: With overwhelming interest from homeowners, architects, interior designers, and business owners, we have officially extended invitations to pilot project partners across the US to welcome them into our summer pilot program where they will be the first to install Urchinite in their spaces. 

R&D Samples: We designed a sneak peak of what's in store and have produced and shipped out a batch of our R&D sample postcards to pre-order customers. This allowed us to develop a micro-process for producing, packing, fullfilling, and shipping initial products, preparing us for sample box shipments in the coming months.

Upcoming 

We will be manufacturing and shipping sample boxes to pre-order and pilot customers in the next several months. In addition, we will be ramping up trial production of biocalcites and converting them to Urchinite surfaces for our summer pilots.

SF Climate Week: Join us at the following events:

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