Project Overview

Utilising Axolotl's proprietary bonding process, we can replicate the natural aesthetic of terracotta perfectly, while making it simpler and more cost effective.

Axolotl Terracotta retains the integrity of natural terracotta with variance in texture and colour. The unique coating process enables Axolotl Terracotta to be utilised in situations never before considered possible in design.

In keeping with Axolotl's current practises, Axolotl Terracotta can be bonded onto traditional building materials. This allows the terracotta aesthetic to be realised anywhere you may normally use aluminium, CFC sheeting or stainless steel, in virtually any size or shape.

Additionally, the issues of shrinkage, weight, scale and manufacturing times found with traditional terracotta are dramatically improved.

Axolotl Terracotta is Australian produced and manufactured. It is offered in a range of colours and textures and has unlimited design potential, each project can be further individualised with Axolotl’s in-house ability to carve or etch custom designs onto the surface.

Terracotta has long been a part of our built environment as a beautiful and timeless building product. Now Axolotl Terracotta reinvents this classic beauty to be more cost and production effective, without losing any of its aesthetic qualities.

Organisation

Axolotl Group Pty Ltd

Team

Kim Torma - Creative Director
Emmaline Tuza - Project Co-ordinator

Project Brief

Axolotl Terracotta is a world first, creating a terracotta finish that can be applied to virtually any solid surface, of any size or shape, giving the object the appearance of solid terracotta without any of the associated restrictive, or environmental, issues.

Axolotl Terracotta can be used for both internal and external applications, the increased flexibility in the application of terracotta opens up limitless possibilities in terracotta for designers and architects. Applications which were previously impossible in solid terracotta whether due to weight and functionality restrictions or simply the limitations of the material itself are now overcome.

The Axolotl Terracotta coating is 0.5mm thick and is available in a range of colours and textures.

New applications never before realised include but aren’t limited to facades, doors, garage doors, sculptural forms and joinery.

Project Innovation/Need

Incorporating a terracotta aesthetic can be prohibitive in instances where it is either
difficult, or even impossible, to install pre-cast terracotta objects, due to associated limitations including access, weight, size, cost, strength and variation.

Traditional terracotta products can be brittle and can also have large tolerances in size variation, that are very difficult for builders to work with during installation.

With Axolotl Terracotta, panels, objects and forms can be constructed offsite
from any substrate including lightweight sustainable materials. The object is then
coated in Axolotl Terracotta to create the illusion of a solid terracotta object, with no risk of variations in size.

Axolotl also has the ability to apply the coating to specific areas of a substrate, leaving mechanical components untouched for ease of installation.

Design Challenge

Axolotl prides itself on its ability to re-engineer and re-define traditional building materials, allowing them to be used in new innovative ways.

Axolotl is in constant conversation with the Australian design and architecture industry and has witnessed the trend emerging for natural materials, with many of our clients looking to re-use familiar building materials in new ways.

Axolotl Terracotta's development and launch was fast tracked when a specific project required a terracotta aesthetic for a design which pushed beyond traditional terracotta's capabilities.

With the invention of Axolotl Terracotta, a terracotta finish can be applied using Axolotl's proprietary techniques. Axolotl Terracotta is able to be bonded onto a variety of substrates and forms and additionally Axolotl Terracotta can be customised in various colours and textures, and can have further detail applied through etching or carving.

At this time when natural materials are in high demand in the design and architecture industry, Axolotl Terracotta provides yet another opportunity for designers to realise their vision.

Sustainability

The Axolotl coating process was developed with sustainability in mind.
Axolotl Terracotta does not require firing, or heavy machinery as used in a casting process, and can be applied onto sustainable substrates, limiting its environmental impact.

Axolotl Terracotta uses recycled materials and the quantity of raw materials required for 1 square metre of Axolotl Terracotta is just 1.5% of raw materials required for the same surface area of solid terracotta. This translates to a fraction of the carbon emissions of the production of solid terracotta.

Furthermore using a lightweight sustainable substrate for construction, an item coated with Axolotl Terracotta weighs up to 20 times less than a cast object of the same size, reducing carbon emissions released during the transport of the product.