Bringing the Ocean Indoors: A Pilot Installation with COAST

When you walk into the COAST Hub in Victoria, you feel the energy immediately. Founders, investors, researchers, and regulators all collaborating to advance the blue economy. It's a space built around momentum. 

When COAST (The Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies) invited us to bring Seacork’s seaweed-based materials into their Archipelago meeting room as a pilot installation, it wasn’t just a chance to add something new to the space—it was an opportunity to reflect the values and vision that power COAST itself.

Introducing panels grown from local seaweed offered a way to bring the ocean quite literally into the room. The installation gives visitors a direct, hands-on sense of what ocean-based regenerative materials look like indoors.

Seacork brought the ocean indoors with its seaweed-based acoustic panels.

A Partnership Rooted in Shared Purpose

COAST’s mission is to strengthen Pacific Canada's role in the immense and emerging ocean and marine sectors, building inclusive prosperity in British Columbia along the way. They bring together people, ideas, businesses and communities to drive leadership and innovation in Pacific Canada's sustainable blue economy.

“COAST was thrilled to install Seacork’s acoustic panels in our Innovation Hub. One of our core mandates is to support these types of innovative ventures, providing opportunities to bring their products to market and identifying pathways to help their ideas become reality. What better way to promote what’s possible in the blue economy than through a collaboration like this. Visitors are always intrigued by the panels, ask a lot of questions about how they’re made, and are inspired by Seacork’s creativity. We’re eager to see how Annie and her team grow Seacork, and to continue supporting her any way we can.”

– Jason Goldsworthy, Executive Director, COAST

COAST has been one of Seacork’s most meaningful partners over the past year. Their support has extended far beyond programming, they’ve helped open doors, strengthen networks, and accelerate pathways for climate-aligned innovation on the West Coast.

Over the past year and a half, we’ve had the privilege of working with COAST through:

• PitchFest 2024, where Seacork was selected as the inaugural winner of $10,000

• The Blue Action Accelerator, supported by COAST, Founders Factory and Blue Action. Through the Blue Action Accelerator, we received targeted support to refine our strategy and strengthen our path to commercialization

• COAST’s Blue Economy AI Readiness Assessment, supported by COAST and Tall Tree where we explored opportunities to leverage AI to strengthen areas of the organization

• A growing ecosystem of introductions, mentorship, and opportunities

A look inside COAST'S Archipelago room.

COAST has been instrumental in helping us scale commercial pathways for Seacork's seaweed-based acoustic panels. This pilot installation is a natural extension of that support—putting our materials into a space where ocean innovation is actively taking shape.

Designing a Pilot for a Room for Ocean Discussions

This pilot installation centred around three priorities:

1. Reflect COAST’s values by integrating materials that actively support marine ecosystems and circular design

2. Showcase what’s possible when seaweed becomes a functional, beautiful material in a real-world workspace

3. Create a physical presence for regenerative materials in a room where many regional ocean decisions take shape

The panels now add a natural warmth to the Archipelago’s existing architecture, creating a visual bridge between the ocean outside and the innovation happening inside the Hub.

Why This Pilot Matters for the Blue Economy

Seaweed is an incredibly promising regenerative resource. It grows abundantly without freshwater, fertilizer, or land. When transformed into durable materials, it can help reduce the carbon and waste footprints of industries that urgently need alternatives. 

The seaweed used to make these panels was wild harvested less than 100km away from where the panel’s now live in Victoria, BC. It is non-native to the Salish sea, and has been confirmed by local ecologists that it displaces local seaweeds and is unsuitable habitat for many Salish Sea creatures.

Seacork’s acoustic panels are made with seaweed, drastically reducing the waste and carbon footprint. 

Bringing seaweed-based materials into the COAST Hub shows how the blue economy can directly shape the built environment. Besides improving acoustics, they offer an opportunity to reduce waste and the embodied carbon of buildings. 

A Foundation for What's Next

This pilot represents another chapter in our ongoing collaboration with COAST and an exciting signal of what’s possible when ocean innovation, regenerative design, and real-world application come together. The panels in COAST’s Archipelago meeting room are more than a feature: they’re a conversation starter about the role of seaweed-based materials in creating a climate-positive future.

In photo: Annie Dahan, Seacork's Founder and CEO, speaking at a COAST event.

We’re grateful for COAST’s continued support and look forward to building what comes next together.