Creative Workshop with Natural Brick
In a unique and inspiring gathering, Natural Brick hosted a hands-on workshop and factory tour at their Warragamba studio, bringing together a vibrant mix of creatives from across the design industry. Interior designers, students, landscape architects, writers, and the team from Studio Enti came together to explore the transformative power of waste in the design process.
Mitchell Ferrie - Natural Brick’s Artist in Residence.
The Collective
The team demonstrating their brick-making process.
The day began with an introduction to Natural Brick, a collective of researchers and craftspeople dedicated to rethinking waste in the built environment. Known for their artisanal approach and innovative use of discarded materials, Natural Brick produces bespoke masonry products and architectural forms using waste as their primary resource.
Attendees toured the Warragamba factory, gaining insight into the processes and philosophies behind Natural Brick’s work. Central to their mission is the idea that waste is not a problem, but an opportunity with endless construction potential.
From Discard to Design: Making Terrazzo Tiles
The workshop’s highlight was a terrazzo tile-making session, where each group created their own piece using waste materials which ranged from brick, tiles, stone, marble, and ceramics — many of which were generously donated by Studio Enti.
In ceramics, flaws, cracks, and breakages are inevitable, but Studio Enti sees these not as failures, but as raw material for new creation. By preserving and repurposing their own ceramic discards, Studio Enti emphasises sustainability and circular design practices. These remnants accessible in the workshop were reborn in terrazzo tiles that each embraced the materials history, process, and purpose.
Discarded porcelain from Studio Enti that is no longer waste but used as material for Natural Brick.
Naomi Taplin collecting material offcuts at the factory.
Designing with Waste
One of the key takeaways from the workshop was a powerful shift in perspective: waste = value. By recontextualizing discarded materials, the participants saw first-hand how waste could be transformed into something meaningful, functional, and beautiful. Every terrazzo tile carried with it a narrative, not just of the materials used, but of the conscious decisions made in their reuse.
This collaborative experience was not just about making something physical, but about embracing a broader ethos of sustainability, craftsmanship, and slow conscious design.
Fragments of Studio Enti’s porcelain can be seen in several of the terrazzo tiles created during the workshop.
Curating the terrazzo tile with various materials including our porcelain discards.
About Natural Brick
Natural Brick have a studio in Chippendale and factory in Warrangamba. The team continues to push the boundaries of sustainable design, proving that with creativity and care, the materials we discard can become the foundations of something entirely new.