Michael Eden | Maker

Craft is the central focus of a large scale collaborative project that I have recently been involved in. 

EPR Architects have designed a new building for the corner of Savile Row and Conduit Street in central London and in keeping with its location within the heart of British bespoke tailoring, it was decided to use the ‘finest of craft materials’ to embed the building within the surrounding culture.

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Stephen Pey, the principal architect brought in potter Kate Malone at an early stage of the project in order to develop plans for a hand-glazed tile facade for the whole building. Once Kate had sourced suitable ceramic tiles, the lengthy and extensive development to formulate compatible crystalline glazes began, involving the testing of thousands of variants. Once this demanding process was complete, the onerous task of glazing all 11,000 tiles began. This was undertaken by Rich Miller of Froyle Pottery in Surrey, whose team had to apply an exact amount of glaze to each tile to prevent the glassy liquid pouring off the sides during the 5 day firing cycle. 

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Kate and Stephen decided at an early stage that the tiles would be vulnerable to damage at pavement level, so a panel or plinth of some sort would be required between pavementlevel and about 1 metre above the ground where the tiles start. At this stage Kate invited me in to the discussions. Various materials were considered including Cumbrian slate, but after visiting various metal fabricators, finishers and foundries, bronze was chosen.

It was important to create a strong visual link between the 2 contrasting materials, so we began to explore the creation of a relief landscape derived from close up imagery of the glaze crystals, supplied by Kate. In addition, Kate provided me with a series of drawings depicting the main crystal types.

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I then reproduced these archetypes in Rhino 3D CAD software as low relief, individual objects, from which I could then begin to create a raised and impressed landscape. There then followed a lengthy exchange, bouncing the designs back and forth until Kate was happy with the final iteration.

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During the process, Kate commissioned test panels to be cast in order to see how they related to the tiles.

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The technical challenges of manipulating and layering thousands of individual pieces were considerable, The CAD files became increasingly large the nearer I got to the final 1.2 metre panel, but in the end the design came together and was approved by Kate and Stephen.

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A CAD rendering of a section of the final panel.

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Once the design was finally finished, the CAD file sent for the production of a CNC milled panel from which the sand-cast moulds could be produced.

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In all, 12 individual panels were required, each precisely cut to follow the sloping line of the pavement and fit snugly up against the bottom edge of the tiles. 

Kate selected JT Price of Newcastle-under-Lyme to cast the panels, and carefully supervised the casting and then the patination. 

I was very pleased to have been invited to play my part in this project, it was a demanding, but very rewarding, the results of which are a testament to the tenacity, organisational ability and creative force of Kate Malone.

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And here's the completed building, looking pretty much like the artist's impression.

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An accidental selfie reflection in one of Kate Malone's lovely blue-black crystaliine glazed tiles.

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Another image of the bronze panels, this time adjacent to Kate Malone's white crystalline tiles.

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I also spotted a subtle use of my CAD rendering on the floor number signs in the stairwell.