At a time of climate emergency, Matter at hand explored the creative possibilities of building with earth.
Inside a factory in Blackburn, Darwen Terracotta produce some of the world’s finest architectural ceramics through slip-casting. During this process, clay is liquified and poured into intricately crafted plaster moulds, transforming from liquid to solid. It’s then fired at a high temperature to become the protective and decorative exterior skin of buildings.
In Poured Earth, Matter at hand explored how Darwen Terracotta’s specialist knowledge of liquid clay and the grandeur of their architectural ceramics could inspire new directions for the development of unfired earthen building materials. Unfired clay, in combination with other minerals and natural fibres, has been used in construction throughout the world for thousands of years.
It’s a tradition that has largely been lost in this country. Using a process where earth is cast in a liquid form, Poured Earth offers new and evolving ways of thinking about this age-old material and how we could sustainably build for the future.
For the 2025 festival, the North Transept of Blackburn Cathedral was filled with a field of architectural, material experiments. Framed by a decorative archway of used plaster moulds, a display of tests, prototypes and fragments of future buildings showed ways of using earth in construction that serve as structure or insulation whilst embracing colour, texture and surface decoration.
Clay was combined with natural fibres and waste aggregates from across the North to produce building elements that could give us new ways of appreciating materials hidden in plain sight. The installation was accompanied by a film, made in partnership with Wash Films, that captured the making process and explored clay as a uniquely fluid solid.
During the festival weekend, a workshop was led by Annabel Cameron-Duff exploring the Japanese art form of Hikaru Dorodango (Shiny mud dumpling) – the process of transforming a simple clay ball into a beautiful, polished sphere without the need for glaing or firing.
Matter at hand is the design practice of Lewis Jones, a designer working across architecture, material science and hands-on construction. His work is rooted in an investigation of the materials and processes that shape our built environment.
Jones co-founded the architecture and design collective Assemble in 2010, helping shape an award-winning body of work, setting out to rethink how buildings are made and who gets to make them. From 2012, he led a long-term collaboration with residents of the Granby Four Streets in Liverpool to help rebuild their neighbourhood, a project awarded the Turner Prize in 2015.
In 2025, Jones established Matter at hand, a research-based design studio, guided by the belief that inventive and unexpected solutions to the problems at hand can be found in a deeper understanding of the materials and resources around us.
Darwen Terracotta is a leading manufacturer of architectural terracotta and faience, specialising in both historic restoration and new-build projects. With a passion for craftsmanship and innovation, the company also trades as Whitebirk Sink Company, applying its expertise in ceramic manufacturing to produce premium fireclay ceramic sinks. A double winner at the Red Rose Awards 2025 for the “Made in Lancashire” and “Export” categories, Darwen Terracotta continues to showcase the excellence of British manufacturing on a global stage by blending traditional techniques with modern design.
This is the fourth Art in Manufacturing residency hosted by the industry leaders, who have supplied products to international artists including Grasyon Perry’s A House for Essex, and Richard Deacon. They have been involved in prestigious architectural projects internationally, from the Natural History Museum and the Royal Albert Hall to The Londoner at Leicester Square.
Photography by Lewis Jones and Robin Zahler.
Art in Manufacturing film by Wash Films, made possible with funding from Creative Lancashire.
