A few years ago the company Saxa Gres was established with the sole purpose of demonstrating the importance and possibility of creating a circular economy within the ceramic tile sector. Producing a large range of porcelain tiles and extra-thick tiles for varying types of location, Saxa Gres most recently launched Grestone. Grestone is a highly durable material ideally suited to heavily trafficked streets and pavements, … Continue reading Saxa Grestone
Mushrooms are helping to create a huge range of eco materials due to their unique properties – such as Muskin (a leather replacement), Mycoprotein (a fungi-derived meat replacement), Pestalotiopsis microspora (a plastic-consuming mushroom), manipulated mycelium (which makes up mushroom root networks) walls, and bio-bricks. But the miraculous use of this natural material doesn’t stop there. A partnership between architect Dirk Hebel and engineer Philippe Block … Continue reading Functional Fungi
As well as adoring tiles every day of the week, we also have a soft spot for curious creations, and surprising waste materials. We’ve selected five of our favourites that use a variety of recycled products from tea to copper to produce highly stylish household items for the fashion concious. 2. Homeware by Dust London One of the more unusual materials for a company to … Continue reading Five curious creations from reclaimed materials
There is often so much exciting stuff to write about in tile, construction, and interior design that some things get put into the ‘to write’ pile, only to be covered over with a hundred different collections, collaborations, and creations. But they do get uncovered, and today is the day we uncover one of those gems! And excitingly, today we take a look at Viking seaweed … Continue reading Viking Seaweed Thatch
Weird and wonderful solutions to building and decoration problems are something we love learning about and although this is not ‘new’ news, we believe it is still something worth sharing. This strange solution involves using carrots to strengthen concrete. Research from Lancaster University suggests that extracted nanoparticles from root vegetables can be used within the concrete as a cheap alternative to strengthening concrete, with lower … Continue reading Carrots and Concrete
It’s important to recognise the waste produced by modern living, in issue prevalent in all industries including construction, architecture, and interior design. Although large strides are being made in the way products are created, be it through using sustinable materials, circular production models, recycling and repurposing, or through innovations that seek to reduce emissions, we’re not close to solving the problem. Something to get us … Continue reading Claiming Time with Reclaimed Tiles
Last year we explored three of Surface Matter‘s offerings – Bencore, Durat, and Richlite – demonstrating the unique properties found in each, and highlighting the value they add to the world of construction and design. And now we have the pleasure of sharing their newest addition – Stratum – a continuation of Richlite with the added durability of birch. Their other Richlite products found success … Continue reading Surface Matter’s Stratum Selection
For tile design studio Elisa Passino the most important thing is that beauty goes hand-in-hand with sustainability. Founded just last year (by Elisa Passino), the studio creates collections designed to be timeless, finding inspiration in heritage whilst looking to the future for innovation. The products are durable, offering ranges that are futureproof, not only in their materials, but in their decorative merits and focus on … Continue reading Sustainable Beauty from Elisa Passino
It doesn’t sound great at first, but these urine bricks could someday be an important building material. Attempting to find an alternative to relatively resource and energy intensive kiln fired bricks, engineering student Suzanne Lambert from Cape Town took to one of humanity’s most prolific creations. These bricks are made using urine, sand, and living bacteria and harden at room temperature, removing the need for … Continue reading Urine Bricks
We’re all about the weird and wonderful here at Tile Addict, in fact we’ve got a whole section dedicated to the fantastical things the creatives of the world do with tile. But there are some items far beyond the reach of the aesthetic that deserve praise all on their own for pioneering change in the building industry. So we’ve gathered seven incredible creations that mark … Continue reading Seven sustainble surface solutions
Surfaces and materials are really what we’re about here. Sharing whats new, interesting, and innovative is one of the ways we broaden our definition of ’tile’, hoping to inspire artists, designers and manufacturers to incorporate fantastical materials and methods, or to develop their own. We’ve covered many recycled materials such as Plasticiet’s recycled plastic terrazzo surfaces, homeware created out of used tea by Dust London, … Continue reading Shelling out for seafood waste
Design turning its attention to waste products is the way of the future. More and more frequently we are seeing the incredible creations that can be made with a huge range of previously overlooked materials. Again we are stretching the definition of tile as inspiration for our favourite surface can be found pretty much anywhere, and innovations in sustainable design are not only good for … Continue reading Copper Furniture
It’s tea waste that inspires Michael McManus and Matthew Grant who founded Dust London in 2016. The duo put to use their backgrounds in art and architecture into crafting unique angular homeware out of waste. The tea waste is put to use depending on its type, with each variety dried and blended, ready to mix with a non-toxic binder. Not only are the teas used … Continue reading Dust London
We last took a look at this Rotterdam-based company in September, taking special interest in their materials Blizzard, Nova, Greyish, and Chocolate Factory. But since then Plasticiet has introduced a few more members to their family – Rhinestone Black and White – both made from Dutch post-production cutoffs and Belgian household waste. Taking full advantage of the striking recycled plastic terrazzo surfaces are Ace & … Continue reading Antwerp’s Ace & Tate Terrazzo
Last year The Bio-Integrated Design Lab at the Bartlett School of Architecture developed a truly wonderful creation – algae inlaid tiles that are able to filter heavy metals and toxic chemical dyes out of water. The Indus tiles are an incredible demonstration of the impact design can have on the world, taking inspiration and hints from nature in order to produce protective systems that are … Continue reading Algae Infused Tiles
Materials master Enis Akiev has taken surface experimentation to another level. For the past few years she has taken inspiration from an eclectic selection of substances. A project at Hong Kong Polytechnic University led to the exploration of a cellulose creation from kombucha bacteria utilising black tea and various sugar solutions and heat treatment to develop skin-like materials that can be dyed with fruit juice. … Continue reading Plastic Stone Tiles
German designer Julia Lohmann has brought a global issue to the fore with and awesomely weird and wonderful pavillion. Showcased at the World Economic Forum in Davos, ‘Hidaka Ohmu’ is a small thought-inducing creation composed of stretched seaweed. Lohmann’s Department of Seaweed explores the design potential of the plentiful, sustainable, and often overlooked material. The kelp is treated to maintain its original properties, and also … Continue reading Say it with Seaweed
Hemp is fast being recognised as one of the most important crops to tackle climate change due to its prolific growing potential, carbon-sequestering nature, and its capacity to be used in almost any industry. Its ability to sequester carbon begins from the moment it is seeded, with one ton of harvested hemp fiber sequestering approximately 1.62 tons of CO². In the building world hemp’s popularity … Continue reading Hemp House
Building material alternatives are some of the most exciting things to write about – celebrating innovation that seeks to minimise our impact on the planet, and work for the benefit of non-human creatures is a pleasure that is thankfully becoming ever more common. In a research project from the Indian School of Design and Innovation in Mumbai aimed at developing healthy and environmentally friendly building … Continue reading Lightweight Loofah
Despite our love for sustainable design and product innovation, there is one building material we haven’t previously covered – the humble potato. But the creations by Chip[s]Board cannot go unnoticed. Founders Rowan Minkley and Rob Nicoll teamed up with family-owned potato company McCain to turn potato skins into a range of durable, non-toxic, and biodegradable materials. The starting point for the innovative company was to … Continue reading Chip[s]Board Covering
