September 15, 2025

The Story of Hearth

Robert Goren, Co-founder of Hearth

While in Architecture

Like many, when I first started out as an architectural designer, one of my earliest tasks was maintaining the material library. It was definitely tedious and not what i expected after graduating, but I quickly came to enjoy it! The tactility of each tile, the smell of the wood samples, and the endless possibility that was to come in my future of architecture.This was my first taste of countless micro decisions that happen in the design of every building. Structures were no longer abstract museum board and bass word but a complex assembly of pieces that breathe life into each project.

 

Over the years, as I gained more responsibility and my time could no longer be spent frolicking in the fantastical word of stone and plaster samples, it became clear that these material libraries are one of the most chaotic and under developed parts of a design studio. Every office I worked in had its own version of the problem: shelves stacked with outdated binders, boxes of samples that no one touched, and countless hours wasted digging for that one product we knew was “somewhere.”

 

The frustration wasn’t just about losing time being disorganized- it was wasteful! More often than not, we’d end up ordering the same samples over and over because no one could find the ones we already had. Piles of boxes would arrive from manufacturers, only to be tossed into the growing clutter. It always struck me how backwards this felt in a profession that prides itself on precision and efficiency. We were creating waste in both time and resources, simply because we didn’t have the right system in place.

 

This reality became crystal clear during our firms the “purge sessions.” If you’ve ever been part of one, you know what I mean. Every few years, the library would get so out of hand that the team would dedicate entire days, or even a week, to cleaning it out. We’d be hauling bins of samples to the trash or recycling, uncovering forgotten products, and realizing just how much duplication and waste had piled up. I’ve now been through three of these purges in different offices, and each time it left me with the same thought: there has to be a better way.

Leaving architecture?

When I stepped away from architecture to study product design, I noticed how different that world was. Every material, every component, every design decision was tracked and documented. Nothing was left to chance or memory. Coming back into architecture, the contrast was striking. We were still trying to solve complex design problems while relying on libraries that looked more like storage closets than tools. That gap between what design could be and the tools we were stuck with became impossible to ignore.

 

That’s where the idea for Hearth started. I didn’t want to just “digitize the mess.” I wanted to rethink the material library entirely—turning it into something that works for designers, not against them. A system that captures material knowledge, reduces waste, and keeps things organized so you don’t have to start from scratch every time. Hearth is a reflection of those years of frustration, but also of the belief that we can do better as an industry.

 

This blog will be a place where I share that journey—what I’ve learned from both architecture and product design, the pain points that shaped Hearth, and the conversations I’ve had with other designers facing the same struggles. If you’ve ever found yourself knee-deep in samples during a library purge, I think you’ll see exactly why Hearth needed to exist.

“A large, heavily bolded quote for emphasis and breaking up content.”

Full name

Role at company

Last subheader, for good measure

 

That’s where the idea for Hearth started. I didn’t want to just “digitize the mess.” I wanted to rethink the material library entirely—turning it into something that works for designers, not against them. A system that captures material knowledge, reduces waste, and keeps things organized so you don’t have to start from scratch every time. Hearth is a reflection of those years of frustration, but also of the belief that we can do better as an industry.

 

This blog will be a place where I share that journey—what I’ve learned from both architecture and product design, the pain points that shaped Hearth, and the conversations I’ve had with other designers facing the same struggles. If you’ve ever found yourself knee-deep in samples during a library purge, I think you’ll see exactly why Hearth needed to exist.

September 15, 2025

The Story of Hearth

Robert Goren, Co-founder of Hearth

While in Architecture

Like many, when I first started out as an architectural designer, one of my earliest tasks was maintaining the material library. It was definitely tedious and not what i expected after graduating, but I quickly came to enjoy it! The tactility of each tile, the smell of the wood samples, and the endless possibility that was to come in my future of architecture.This was my first taste of countless micro decisions that happen in the design of every building. Structures were no longer abstract museum board and bass word but a complex assembly of pieces that breathe life into each project.

 

Over the years, as I gained more responsibility and my time could no longer be spent frolicking in the fantastical word of stone and plaster samples, it became clear that these material libraries are one of the most chaotic and under developed parts of a design studio. Every office I worked in had its own version of the problem: shelves stacked with outdated binders, boxes of samples that no one touched, and countless hours wasted digging for that one product we knew was “somewhere.”

 

The frustration wasn’t just about losing time being disorganized- it was wasteful! More often than not, we’d end up ordering the same samples over and over because no one could find the ones we already had. Piles of boxes would arrive from manufacturers, only to be tossed into the growing clutter. It always struck me how backwards this felt in a profession that prides itself on precision and efficiency. We were creating waste in both time and resources, simply because we didn’t have the right system in place.

 

This reality became crystal clear during our firms the “purge sessions.” If you’ve ever been part of one, you know what I mean. Every few years, the library would get so out of hand that the team would dedicate entire days, or even a week, to cleaning it out. We’d be hauling bins of samples to the trash or recycling, uncovering forgotten products, and realizing just how much duplication and waste had piled up. I’ve now been through three of these purges in different offices, and each time it left me with the same thought: there has to be a better way.

Leaving architecture?

When I stepped away from architecture to study product design, I noticed how different that world was. Every material, every component, every design decision was tracked and documented. Nothing was left to chance or memory. Coming back into architecture, the contrast was striking. We were still trying to solve complex design problems while relying on libraries that looked more like storage closets than tools. That gap between what design could be and the tools we were stuck with became impossible to ignore.

 

That’s where the idea for Hearth started. I didn’t want to just “digitize the mess.” I wanted to rethink the material library entirely—turning it into something that works for designers, not against them. A system that captures material knowledge, reduces waste, and keeps things organized so you don’t have to start from scratch every time. Hearth is a reflection of those years of frustration, but also of the belief that we can do better as an industry.

 

This blog will be a place where I share that journey—what I’ve learned from both architecture and product design, the pain points that shaped Hearth, and the conversations I’ve had with other designers facing the same struggles. If you’ve ever found yourself knee-deep in samples during a library purge, I think you’ll see exactly why Hearth needed to exist.

“A large, heavily bolded quote for emphasis and breaking up content.”

Full name

Role at company

Last subheader, for good measure

 

That’s where the idea for Hearth started. I didn’t want to just “digitize the mess.” I wanted to rethink the material library entirely—turning it into something that works for designers, not against them. A system that captures material knowledge, reduces waste, and keeps things organized so you don’t have to start from scratch every time. Hearth is a reflection of those years of frustration, but also of the belief that we can do better as an industry.

 

This blog will be a place where I share that journey—what I’ve learned from both architecture and product design, the pain points that shaped Hearth, and the conversations I’ve had with other designers facing the same struggles. If you’ve ever found yourself knee-deep in samples during a library purge, I think you’ll see exactly why Hearth needed to exist.

September 15, 2025

The Story of Hearth

Robert Goren, Co-founder of Hearth

While in Architecture

Like many, when I first started out as an architectural designer, one of my earliest tasks was maintaining the material library. It was definitely tedious and not what i expected after graduating, but I quickly came to enjoy it! The tactility of each tile, the smell of the wood samples, and the endless possibility that was to come in my future of architecture.This was my first taste of countless micro decisions that happen in the design of every building. Structures were no longer abstract museum board and bass word but a complex assembly of pieces that breathe life into each project.

 

Over the years, as I gained more responsibility and my time could no longer be spent frolicking in the fantastical word of stone and plaster samples, it became clear that these material libraries are one of the most chaotic and under developed parts of a design studio. Every office I worked in had its own version of the problem: shelves stacked with outdated binders, boxes of samples that no one touched, and countless hours wasted digging for that one product we knew was “somewhere.”

 

The frustration wasn’t just about losing time being disorganized- it was wasteful! More often than not, we’d end up ordering the same samples over and over because no one could find the ones we already had. Piles of boxes would arrive from manufacturers, only to be tossed into the growing clutter. It always struck me how backwards this felt in a profession that prides itself on precision and efficiency. We were creating waste in both time and resources, simply because we didn’t have the right system in place.

 

This reality became crystal clear during our firms the “purge sessions.” If you’ve ever been part of one, you know what I mean. Every few years, the library would get so out of hand that the team would dedicate entire days, or even a week, to cleaning it out. We’d be hauling bins of samples to the trash or recycling, uncovering forgotten products, and realizing just how much duplication and waste had piled up. I’ve now been through three of these purges in different offices, and each time it left me with the same thought: there has to be a better way.

Leaving architecture?

After almost a decade in architecture I was incredibly burned out, a feeling Im sure everyone who reads this article can related to. So like any early thirty year old living in San Francisco does, I stepped away from architecture to study product design. I noticed how different that world was. Every material, every component, every design decision was tracked and documented. Nothing was left to chance or memory. Coming back into architecture, the contrast was striking. We were still trying to solve complex design problems while relying on libraries that looked more like storage closets than tools. That gap between what design could be and the tools we were stuck with became impossible to ignore.

 

“A large, heavily bolded quote for emphasis and breaking up content.”

Full name

Role at company

Last subheader, for good measure

 

That’s where the idea for Hearth started. I didn’t want to just “digitize the mess.” I wanted to rethink the material library entirely—turning it into something that works for designers, not against them. A system that captures material knowledge, reduces waste, and keeps things organized so you don’t have to start from scratch every time. Hearth is a reflection of those years of frustration, but also of the belief that we can do better as an industry.

 

This blog will be a place where I share that journey—what I’ve learned from both architecture and product design, the pain points that shaped Hearth, and the conversations I’ve had with other designers facing the same struggles. If you’ve ever found yourself knee-deep in samples during a library purge, I think you’ll see exactly why Hearth needed to exist.