Fireclay Tile for Landscape Architecture - Part 2
April 29, 2010 | filed under: Installation Tips and Tricks Design Ideas Fun-Eco Stories Company News Showroom/Boneyard Debris Series
April 29, 2010 | filed under: Installation Tips and Tricks Design Ideas Fun-Eco Stories Company News Showroom/Boneyard Debris Series
April 21, 2010 | filed under: Fun-Eco Stories Fireclay Manufacturing Company News
April 19, 2010 | filed under: Design Ideas Showroom/Boneyard Debris Series
April 18, 2010 | filed under: Design Ideas Press Company News Debris Series
April 9, 2010 | filed under: Fun-Eco Stories Company News Debris Series
I feel really uplifted after meeting Tim Gordon yesterday. Tim is a Designer in the San Francisco office of William McDonough + Partners, and it was inspiring and rewarding to have the opportunity to meet with someone who truly appreciated Fireclay Tile for both it's beauty and resourcefulness.
As many of you might already know, William McDonough is the author of Cradle to Cradle and his architectural firm is a pioneer in green design.
Being an efficient scavenger by nature, I have been making ceramic products and tiles from waste products generated in the Bay Area. I started getting serious about working with recycled materials in the 1990's because I found waste sandblast aggregate from a Sunnyvale, CA computer chip maker. In the late 90's I developed the matrix which makes up our Debris Series tiles. It is currently made with waste glass particles, granite dust particles and collected spent abrasives.
Sustainability still has a long way to go. Many people talk about it but don't actually live it. Thanks to businesses like William McDonough + Partners sustainability is continually being refined and improved. I one day hope to meet Mr. McDonough to discuss our mutual passion for green design, and of course hope to see Fireclay Tile in one of their upcoming projects.
- Paul, Chief Ceramicist
William McDonough + Partners is a design firm of 40 architects, planners, designers, and support staff. In 1994, the practice was relocated from New York to Charlottesville when William McDonough was named dean of the University of Virginia's School of Architecture. From the Charlottesville studio, the firm established a leading role in sustainable design through a diverse range of notable projects. In 2006, they opened a studio in San Francisco, California to strengthen its solid presence in the Bay Area. More recently, in response to the growing interest in Cradle to Cradle in the Netherlands, it opened a studio in Amsterdam, from which the practice will base its ongoing work in the Netherlands and the EU. Despite the distances between the three locations, the firm operates as one office with daily interaction between the studios. This approach allows them to combine the capacity of a large firm with the agility of a small one. William McDonough is a world-renowned architect and designer and winner of three U.S. presidential awards: the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the National Design Award (2004), and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003).
April 8, 2010 | filed under: Design Ideas Company News Debris Series
Traci Des Jardin's new Mijita Restaurant at At&T Park features Fireclay Tile's Debris Series handmade tile and authentic Talavera tiles from Mexico. While we cherish Traci for her well chosen tile and stunning sense of decor, you all know her from her infamous vicotry of Mario Batali in Iron Chef or her James Beard Award in 2007.
Traci first learned of Fireclay Tile when she designed her first Mijita Restarant in San Francisco's Ferry Building. A winning combination of our Debris Series Recycled Tile in various mexican-inspired colors and authentic Mexican talavera tiles, proved successful and on brand, and she went in this same direction for her newest Mijita Restaurant in SOMA.
Fireclay's Debris Series Recycled Ceramic Tile is made from over 60% Bay Area waste products, including fine glass particles that are produced when things like Corona and Bohemia beer bottles are recycled. We use these waste glass particles that can't be used to make new bottles again to make the brilliant yellow, blue and cream tiles used in the new Mijita. The tiles were chosen for their beauty, durability, but most importantly because Des Jardin promotes sustainability in her restaurant and building practices. Hooray for people like Traci who live the way so many green experts only talk about.
As many of you know, we make all of our products custom order using efficient and sustainable manufacturing practices. Thus, we appreciate works in progress. We captured these photos of the project as it was being tiled by a great tile contractor, B Ziller.
Credits: Design by San Francisco based Frost Tsuji Architects. Debris Series Tile 4x4's in Toulumne Meadows, Mediterranean Blue, Jersey Cream and Saddle Brown. Photos courtesy of http://www.sf.eater.com
April 1, 2010 | filed under: Fun-Eco Stories Fireclay Manufacturing Company News Debris Series
We got a GREAT response from our April Fool’s email. Check it out here:
