Our very first project as Darwen Terracotta was to restore a variety of sections for the historic Wigan Town Hall. This beautiful listed building, which dates back to 1903, was built using a deep, rich, red terracotta. Our specialist expertise in restoration enabled us to match this aged aesthetic perfectly.
It was a brilliant first job, and we look forward to seeing the finished results once it has been applied to the building.
Over the past few months we have collaborated closely with a wonderful group of MA architecture students (ADS6), at the renowned university The Royal College of Arts, in London.
For this project the students took inspiration from the mid-thirteen century London; a time where water was undrinkable, and heath issues were dramatically high. Due to such problems the sanitary revolution finally arose.
Using ceramic as their material, the students designed and created several objects to beautifully story tell this historic problem. We assisted in the making of the focal pipe sculpture, using the skills of our great craftsman to perfect the form and structure of this design, resulting in a beautiful creation.
We are extremely thrilled to have been involved in the manufacturing process for this unique project, and we thoroughly enjoyed working with such an enthusiastic and talented group of students.
The collaboration 'Pipe Up' will be up for an amazing prize, where by the winning RCA students will have their final sculpture built in Vauxhall. We wish ADS6 great luck with finalising their work, and we look forward to potentially working together in the future.
Photos - Edward Crooks & Eleanor Connolly
Our double page spread featuring in the amazing Architecture Today Magazine.
Nov/Dec 2015 Issue.
We are celebrating our very first Christmas together at Darwen Terrcotta, and to say a big thank you to all of our amazing staff for all their hard work over the past months we decided to get together to have a festive meal.
It was a wonderful night having everyone together to celebrate our great achievements so far, and the factory welcomed many heavy heads the next day.
Until next year...
Merry Christmas! from everyone at Darwen Terracotta
The faces behind Darwen Terracotta!
Office team: Jon Wilson, Steve Allen
Jon Almond, Uzma Patel, Mick Blackurn, Paul Heaton, Tom Coughlin, Brittany Wilson
Our talented craftsmen and craftswomen: Arnoldas Ritelis, Marek Szramski, Eileen Morton, Valerie Carr, Radoslaw Szeligowski, James Turnbull, Rafal Oska, Stephen Gardiner, Gregorz Leszczynski, Iain Mair, John Rawlings.
Consultant: Mick Walsh
USA: Donald Walsh
For over 30 years The Historic Buildings, Parks & Gardens event has been annually exhibiting a diverse range of products and services used in the care, repair, restoration and conservation of historic buildings and landscapes.
This year we exhibited at the wonderful event, introducing Darwen Terracotta to the public. Throughout the day we presented our portfolio of work, showcasing our great craftsmanship and expertise in creating terracotta for restored buildings. It was a fantastic day meeting new faces and talking them through our incredible and technical processes.
We also got to see some friendly faces in Tony Herbert and Kathryn Huggins. Tony and Kathryn are the brilliant authors of 'The Decorative Tile in Architecture and Interiors', a book which studies the use of ceramic tiles over the past 100 years. Their knowledge of ceramics is amazing, and we are delighted to have received their great support when talking them through our new venture.
The entire event was a great success, and truly highlighted the continual growth of the heritage industry, and the importance this sector provides to architecture. We're extremely looking forward to creating restoration work in the near future to ensure that these beautiful historic buildings are well preserved.
17th November - The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London.
For more information on this event visit www.hall-mccartney.co.uk
Last week we welcomed former Shaws employees Jack Robinson and Jonny Briggs to Darwen Terracotta to have a good catch up, and to show them round our new wonderful Blackburn premises.
It's always great to see old faces, hear their stories, and learn from their great expertise in the industry.
Hope to see you both again soon!
