If it was good enough for Alexander the Great, it should be good enough for your walls.

The famed conqueror of worlds chose none other than the “super plant” flax for his battle armor, which was made of layers of linen soaked in flaxseed oil and hardened.

Hopefully, the veneer on your walls won’t need to fend off sword blows, but if it did, ekoa would be a good choice. Made of flax, this new product from manufacturer Lingrove is not only extraordinarily durable, but also boasts hefty sustainable credentials: An established carbon sequester, flax is rapidly renewable; with a short growing cycle, It requires minimal water and is thus a desirable rotational crop.

The plant also boasts impressive tensile strength. The stalks are made of multiple intertwined layers, thus offering an organically-engineered alternative to wood, plastic, laminates, and even steel.

In fact, ekoa has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than the latter, making the product appropriate for multiple applications—from wall coverings to ceilings, millwork to furniture. It’s also fairly easy to mold to the manufacturer’s whims, so makes a good choice even for unorthodox applications like vehicle interiors.

ekoa offers an extensive palette, 14 colors in all—from auburn tones resembling stalks of wheat to cloudy grays and coal blacks: “a palette that highlights the authentic aspects of long luxury flax fibers, delivering the promise of large scale installations with continuous (never repeating and always unique) fiber patterns.”

Witness in person ekoa’s big debut at NeoCon 2025! You’ll find them at the Metropolis Sustainability Lab, 11th. floor, Suite 1120.