One of the most environmentally harmful industries in the world is the construction industry, which produces around 61% of total waste in Great Britain. Despite many efforts, millions of potentially valuable materials continue to be rejected. British company Only ceramics has developed an innovative solution for this global topic by converting demolition waste into high -quality architectural surfaces. With their Spolia Terrazzo series, they bring debris in design materials and create a new model for circular practices.
In order to understand the meaning of Spolia, you have to understand the legacy of the Terrazzo material yourself. In the 15th century, Terrazzo came from Venetian workers who were looking for a possibility to use away from thrown away marble residues. They discovered a technique for the integration of marble chips and glass into an inexpensive floor material, which made Terrazzo one of the first “green” systems in the world. Just as the Venetian workers found beauty in marble networks, Solus Ceramics has found a way to return this beauty to the construction waste, whereby tradition has used today's challenges.
Spolia's production system © alone ceramic
Spoil the only ceramic
Spoil the only ceramic
Construction drop
Spolia's production system © alone ceramic
Spoil the only ceramic
Spoil the only ceramic
The name of the project itself, Spolia, has historical importance. In archeology and architecture, Spolia is a Latin word that refers to the reuse of materials from older structures, a practice that is common in the course of the history of Roman times to medieval times. The result is that you can find decorative pieces from old columns that are used as a brick in a city wall and are used both as a physical resource and an aesthetic difference. By using this term, Solus Ceramics recognizes the tradition of material reuse and notes a story that speaks beyond the preservation of the architectural memory beyond the fair functionality.
While sustainability for Spolia's identity is of central importance, its technical performance was not affected: each tile is unique and fulfills the strict standards of architecture. The production is carried out by Quiligotti, a family company in Great Britain that has been producing Terrazzo since 1935 and used in Great Britain materials and aggregates from Europe. The adaptability of quiligotti is a demonstration that established manufacturers can change their processes in order to maintain more sustainable practices without impairing quality or efficiency.
Spolia is a symbol of the principles of circulatory economy thinking that is used for the construction industry. Instead of following the traditional linear model of the “take, make, disposal”, the Spolia process creates a closed loop in which waste becomes a project to a raw material for another. The company transforms not only the end life of a material, but also its overall picture and the perception of its value. He helps to change the perception of the industry about the valuable material.
Spolia is more than a sustainable building material and is a continuation of Terrazzo's original spirit of innovation and ingenuity. In this project, sustainability and beauty are not competing priorities, but can strengthen each other. Sustainable design can create sustainable materials that are also more unique, more interesting and more sensible than their traditional alternatives. We hope that the success of this idea can inspire other manufacturers to rethink their approaches and to change the life cycles of materials in our built environment. Spolia is a suitable tribute to the ingenuity of those Venetian craftsmen who saw beauty in marble networks for the first time ago.