When Aura Murillo Pérez, co-founder of Resting Reef, graduated with a master’s degree in design, she didn’t expect her next big project to involve death and marine life.
But life — or in this case, after life — had other plans.
It’s not your typical design job, and no career counsellor would pitch this, but that’s the point.
Pérez took a route most grads wouldn’t even dream of, blending marine sustainability, grief care, and a pinch of business.
Pérez and Louise Lenborg Skajem both co-founded Resting Reef during their time at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. Source: Aura Murillo Pérez
Resting Reef: A death care service that conserves marine life while celebrating human life
In 2024, 62 million people died, and by 2084, the number of deaths is expected to outpace births, according to the United Nations World Population Prospects.
But traditional memorials aren’t keeping pace.
Cemeteries are reaching capacity around the globe, and cremation — while practical — often leaves families without a lasting place to remember their loved ones.
“When you think about it, death is often associated with pain, fear, and a dark cemetery,” says Pérez.
“We need to acknowledge that it’s not the right narrative. Rather than looking at it with a negative point of view, it should be comforting and celebrate the deceased’s life. Many death care services often fail to resonate with the grieving family, despite the family paying substantial amounts for them.”
You’ve probably seen organisations that turn ashes into trees — as seen on hit sitcom “Modern Family.” Well, Resting Reef takes that idea underwater.
The Resting Reef team before a reef placement in Bali, Indonesia. Source: Aura Murillo Pérez
“We offer a service that includes a memorial reef structure (artificial reef) that’s made out of ashes,” Pérez explains. These aren’t just any structures: the ashes, rich in calcium phosphate, are combined with a special mineral mix proven to boost marine life.
In fact, a quarter of all marine life depends on coral reefs, according to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Although they occupy less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, tropical coral reef ecosystems are home to at least 25% of known marine species.
They provide food, shelter, resting and breeding grounds, acting as nurseries and refuges for millions of species, including turtles, dolphins, whales and manta rays.
“Our bones are very rich with calcium phosphate,” Pérez adds. “Let’s think about it this way — we’re meant to return to nature after we pass. It’s the circle of life we’re part of.”
Each reef is carefully designed to support marine biodiversity. They feature various heights, textures, balconies, and even tunnel systems with multiple exits and vertical pathways.
“We’ve consulted with several marine biologists, and now we’re working with Dr. Zach Boakes, who’s our Head of Restoration and Conservation,” she shares. “Since then, we’ve seen our reef attract 14 times more biodiversity than nearby reef sites, and it has attracted a total of 84 different types of marine life.”
Resting Reef’s presentation at the RCA graduation show in 2022. Source: Arnau Donate
Resting Reef offers two tother distinct services: experiential reefs, a personalised service that allows family and friends to gather at the restoration site, and pet memorials, a dedicated memorial reef for pets.
Today, they are at three locations: Bali (Indonesia), Plymouth (UK), and Mexico.
Pérez and her team collaborate with local communities in each location to understand the diverse beliefs and perceptions surrounding death.
“In Bali, many practise Hinduism, and when it comes down to cremation and death traditions, we need to understand how to incorporate their beliefs when creating the reef structures,” she shares.
Pérez and her friends during their three-month residency in Thailand during their master’s programme. Source: Ahad Mahmood
It all started with a heartbreak
Almost seven years ago, Perez’s father unexpectedly passed away in a car crash — a traumatic event that changed her life forever.
“I remember dealing with the funeral; it was very cold, grey, bureaucratic, and sombre,” she says.
Long before that tragedy, her family — especially her father — had played a profound role in shaping her passions and aspirations.
He was a civil engineer, while her mother also worked in the sciences, creating a household filled with curiosity, technical thinking, and problem-solving.
From a young age, Pérez spent hours drawing with her older sister, a pastime that nurtured her creativity and attention to detail.
So when it came time to choose a career path, the decision felt instinctive.
She would follow in her family’s academic footsteps, attending the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and pursue a field that allowed her to focus on design at a human scale — opting for industrial design in 2014 over large-scale projects, such as building construction.
But when her father died midway through her academic journey, the experience of grief — and the impersonal nature of the funeral process — shifted her perspective.
Planning his memorial felt like navigating a storm without a compass.
Pérez and her friends at their RCA graduation in 2022. Source: Albert Donate
That personal loss would quietly begin to reshape her purpose.
Two years later, Pérez packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to pursue a combined MA in Global Innovation Design at the Royal College of Art in London and an MS in Global Innovation Design at Imperial College London.
It was during her master’s degree that she met her Norwegian co-founder, Louise Lenborg Skajem.
“We had to work on a competition called ‘Terra Carta Design Lab’, hosted by the Royal College of Art, to come up with solutions to help tackle climate change,” says Pérez.
“I was researching deathcare alternatives [inspired by the passing of my father] while she was researching biomaterials as an alternative to plastic — when we put our ideas together, we came up with Resting Reefs. We had no idea if it was visible, but as time passed, we got a lot of traction, and we became finalists.”
Pérez presenting about Resting Reef during Demo Day at Undaunted accelerator programme at Imperial College London. Source: Undaunted, Imperial College London
After graduating, Pérez and Skajem decided to scale it.
“Our mentor said it was interesting and innovative, so we decided to build it to where it is today,” she says.
Today, Resting Reef has won six Innovate UK grants, the Arts Foundation Fellowship Award, a D&AD Pencil for Creative Excellence, and the Seoul Design Award.
Pérez has also been listed as a Forbes 30 Under 30.
“When I first started my master’s, and some of the alumni were Forbes 30 under 30, and I remember going, ‘How amazing would it be to be recognised by them? It’s super inspiring,” she laughs.
“And now I’ve been awarded the recognition, and it’s crazy even to think that.”
