Projects
others
turn down.
META composites develops fiber composite parts for jobs that are too complex or too low-volume for many competitors — from the first sketch to small-batch production.
Specialists in the jobs others turn down
Complex geometries, demanding technical requirements, starting at a batch size of one — that's exactly where our focus lies, right where many suppliers wave you off.
Design
Shaping the form along load paths — not along familiar manufacturing grids.
Engineering
Laminate layup, ply count and fiber orientation are tailored to the part and its loading.
Analysis
Load paths are verified by calculation before the first gram of material is used.
Prototype
Functional models to validate fit, look and feel, and mechanical properties.
Small batch
Mold building and production process for repeatable quality — even at low volumes.
When classic building materials reach their limits
As a trained carpenter, I know first-hand the challenges many joineries regularly run into — especially in yacht interiors and high-end residences, where fire protection, free-form shapes and weight push classic woodworking to its limits. META composites complements your craft wherever fiber composite is the better answer.
Fire protection
Fiber composite face layers and core structures that meet fire protection classes where classic materials alone fall short.
Free-form
Curved, doubly-curved geometries that are difficult or impossible to build in classic construction — in laminate, they're the norm.
Weight
Ceiling structures, stair stringers and large-area cladding in marine or commercial construction, where every kilogram saved counts — at equal or higher stiffness.
Surface quality
Parts with complex geometry are often milled from layer-glued raw material. Those joints tend to show through over time. Fiber composite parts are homogeneous along the face layer and, with the right layup, don't telegraph through.
Not just swapping the material — rethinking the design
When switching, say, from sheet metal to fiber composite construction, usually only the material gets swapped 1:1. That gives away most of the potential.
1:1 material swap
The existing sheet-metal geometry is rebuilt unchanged in laminate. Wall thicknesses and stiffeners still follow sheet-metal logic.
- Weight benefit stays small
- Manufacturing advantages of laminate unused
- Load paths not optimized
Redesigned for fiber composite
The design is rethought along the actual load paths — with beads, core structures and fiber orientation that don't even exist in sheet metal.
- Significantly higher weight-saving potential
- Parts can often be consolidated
- Stiffness placed exactly where it's needed
Not always more expensive — often just fewer parts
Fiber composite usually costs more per kilogram than standard materials. But that comparison falls short if it only looks at material price.
Integrated construction lets several assemblies be combined into a single part. Fewer individual parts mean fewer joints, less assembly effort and fewer sources of error — in many projects that offsets the higher material price, or even undercuts it.
The core problem — and how we deal with it
Fiber and polymer matrix are permanently bonded — that's exactly what makes FRP high-performing and, at the same time, hard to recycle. End-of-life is the material's central weak point.
Maximum longevity is the goal
A part built to last as long as possible avoids new production and, with it, most of the environmental impact — longevity beats any recycling strategy.
Design for repairability
Design parts so that localized damage can be repaired instead of replacing the whole part.
Choose materials deliberately
Consider natural fibers like flax or hemp and bio-based resin systems wherever requirements allow — they reduce environmental impact as early as manufacturing.
Mono-material where possible
Single-material layups instead of mixed materials make later reprocessing significantly easier.
Technical know-how, ready to download
Three compact e-papers from practice — for anyone who wants a technically sound understanding of fiber composites.
Materials & manufacturing processes at a glance
From resin matrix to vacuum bagging film, from fiber spraying to RTM — the key materials and manufacturing processes at a glance, with typical applications and limitations.
Design rules based on nature's principles of form
Fundamental principles of lightweight design, based on the work of C. Mattheck — from notch stress to shape optimization.
Technical properties compared
Stiffness, strength and density of CFRP, GFRP, aluminum and steel compared side by side.
Request download
Understand fiber composites, not just order them
A hands-on workshop for anyone who needs to assess fiber composites in manufacturing — without becoming a laminator themselves.
The workshop provides foundational knowledge of fiber composite manufacturing processes — for anyone who plans, designs, or sells with the material without working with it hands-on every day. A compact theory session is followed by a practical one: together, we build a demonstrator part made of several pieces, each produced using a different manufacturing process.
Theory
Fundamentals of materials, manufacturing processes and the typical pitfalls — compact and hands-on, not academic.
Practice
Building a demonstrator part together from several pieces, each made using a different process.
Who it's for
Sales, engineering and project management — for anyone working with fiber composites without laminating themselves.
Custom
Also available as a tailored workshop — from model-building clubs to recurring in-house staff training.
Your project, our assessment
Whether it's a production part for industry or a custom piece for your own home — briefly describe your project and you'll get an honest assessment of feasibility and next steps.
Stiffness has a direction
Every laminate is only as strong as its fiber orientation. The large rosette shows the stiffness of a 0°/90° fiber orientation — exactly the two large lobes that also shape our logo. The smaller, overlaid curve shows a quasi-isotropic layup (0°/±45°/90°) — that's the wave-shaped area at the center of the logo. The lobes show the tensile forces the different laminates can withstand at the same areal weight.
Max Kirchhoff
META composites is an independent engineering practice for fiber composite construction. No project management layer in between, no loss in handover — direct technical exchange with the client from the first laminate layup through mold release.
The focus is on projects with real technical demands: complex geometries, challenging load cases, and quantities that larger suppliers aren't interested in.