Client
Victoria and Albert Museum
Design
V&A Tiles
Floor tiles for the V&A, developed as a part of the refurbishment of the gift shop by Adrian Friend.
Inspired by patterns and motifs of the Arts and Crafts movement, this set of ceramic tiles was created by 3D printing clay using a robotic arm. | Collaboration with MAL
Team
MAL, Friend and Company
Adrian Friend, won the prestigious competition to design a new £1M Main Shop, one of three V&A Future Plan projects including New Exhibition Road Main Entrance designed by Amanda Levett (previously Future Systems) and New V&A Members Room by Carmody Groarke.Part of the New Main Shop design proposal was to present innovative ways to refurbish the existing raised floor in the V&A Shop. Through research of the V&A archives at Blythe House we select unrealised wall paper and fabric design patterns by C. F. A. Voysey to generate a collection of unique floor tiles. We will transform Voysey’s design digitally into continuous clay extrusions, controlled by an industrial robotic arm, to form tiles without repetition. These tiles were then be glazed by hand, using glaze recipes found again in our research in the V&A archive.
The patterns were interpretted and optimised for 3D printing, using an algorithmic approach to create continuity between pattern elements.
The ceramic tiles were manufactured at Grymsdyke Farm, Buckinghamshire using a KUKA robotic arm to print the tiles.
They were then installed in the main shop of the V&A as a part of the architect’s refurbishment.
