Clayworks announced as finalist in 2019 Surface Design Awards

Update: Morpheus has won the Retail Interior Award!

The shortlist for this year’s Surface Design Awards consists of an impressive 43 projects across seven categories, each entry an exemplary example of creative and innovative use of materials and lighting in both interior and exterior schemes. Some projects won nominations across several categories, resulting in 48 finalists.

As proud media sponsors of the Surface Design Show, Design Insider were keen to use our own expertise in commercial design to select the projects which stood out for us.  Our penultimate series post introduces Aesop’s flasgship Mayfair store, which achieves the designer’s amition for purity and honesty.

The Millennial Pink Ombre Clay Plaster created by Clayworks for the Aesop London store, to a design specification by Snohetta, is nominated in the Retail Interior Surface category.

“The atmosphere is pure and honest, embodying the connection between our earth and its resources and how, if used correctly, can create meaningful and timeless places, no matter the scale.” –  Peter Girgis, Senior Interior Architect at Snohetta.

The bespoke textured and gradient finish is used throughout the store, a stunning example of how one material can be used to magnificent effect when bought to life by ingenious design and clever lighting. It contrasts strikingly with the polished expressions of the clear stainless steel and glass shapes of the centrally located sink.

The 100% natural clay plaster is naturally pigmented throughout using only natural mineral earth pigments and has been referred to variously as Millennial Pink, Terracotta, Conch, Devon Red, Pale Red and Royal Rose: its beauty is that it is all of these depending upon the interplay of natural and artificial light at different times of day which dances beautifully on the earthy, textured patina.

For specialist finishes such as Ombre,  the Cornwall based company collaborates very closely with designers to create customised surface designs that can be varied by colour and coarseness of texture.

With a practice of obsessing about new finishes, the Clayworks team spend countless hours conceptualising new plasters using new natural materials within our plasters and developing samples for designers around the world. In this case, Clayworks were honoured to work in collaboration with Design firm Snohetta and specialist artisan plasterer Guy Valentine.

Being through pigmented, the plasters will never require painting, while an almost infinite colour palette is achievable. They are also all natural, breathable and contain no VOCs or toxins. Made from naturally abundant materials that are blended, not manufactured, they contribute to significant carbon savings compared to conventional wall plaster build ups.

Clayworks’ core philosophy is to deliver plasters of the finest quality that speak honestly and beautifully about the beauty of raw materials. The company’s aim is to reinvent, rethink and re-imagine the possibilities of clay plasters has been pushed one step further with this collaboration.

[Photographs: courtesy Aesop | Plastering: Guy Valentine | Contractors: Spacecraft Workshop]

This is part of a series of posts for the Surface Design Awards, hosted at the Business Design Centre in Islington between the 5th and 7th of February. If you would like to register attend, you can click here. Alternatively, you can read more about the Surface Design Show on Design Insider.