From the Editor

From the Editor

Floor / Cement Soft Pink 200x200mm and Cement White 200x200mm

Image courtesy of Yarra Point Group, Photography by Kate Shanasy

The materials we use in our spaces are now more than ever being considered from new paradigms. Environmental impact, health of users, air pollution (VOC’s) and the expected life of a material are today as important as the colour and texture. How do we navigate the materiality and use of a product to achieve the desired design?

In this issue of Surface Australia we explore both traditional and modern materials, handcraft and precision manufacturing, made by nature and man made.

The latest collaboration between Earp Bros and Tom Fereday introducing the OMNI breeze block. Tom has taken the traditional breeze block and reimagined it as a building block for a number of creative uses including modular furniture.

We talk to Jonathan Rowatt, Director at Yarra Point Group about the newly opened Peaches cocktail bar in Swanston Street Melbourne and find out why the design incorporates cement tiles designed to be worn and aged.

Product Paragon (starts pg. 41) examines the unique properties of certain materials and the value this brings to design and architecture. Products traditionally thought of as floor tiles used as components of complete building systems including raised access floors, ventilated facade systems and multi-formats/ finishes to create seamless finishes across both horizontal and vertical planes from indoors to out.

Read about the latest in the world of colour from Pantone Colour of the Year 2019 with commentary from trend forecasters WGSN and Homes To Love, matched with a number of products including glass mosaic, handmade look wall tiles and traditional terracotta.

Finally we recount visually the recent Earp Bros Espana Tour - a journey through Spain to study how traditional and modern architecture, materials and spaces are conceptualised and crafted in this stunning country.

Welcome to the second edition of Surface Magazine Australia.

~ Josh Earp - Earp Bros Marketing Manager & Editor