Axolotl introduced 3D printing in 2017, continuing its tradition as leaders in design innovation. Since then, it has partnered with architects and interior designers to create architectural artworks as well as originating exciting new products like Axolotl Terrazzo and Spectrum.
We were excited to be featured recently in an article on new online magazine HouseLab, about Axolotl's capabilities in 3D printing. Read it for yourself below.
The possibilities of 3D printing on any material are endless. A detail of a Nickel printed pattern by Axolotl.
When media became digitised the world screamed “print is dead” but, in fact, combining digital technology with age-old printing techniques has created an entirely new dimension to architectural surfaces that can be personalised across almost any application.
Our connection with printed matter is more than coffee table books and the Sunday paper, it's like buying the LP when you can download the album on Spotify. It is tangible, textured and large format.
The 3D printed entry to Nina Maya Interiors' The Glasshouse Photographed by Nicole England.
Take the bronze entryway to Nina Maya Interiors’ recent project, The Glasshouse, in the Sydney suburb of Paddington – and yes, you’d be forgiven for thinking it took an artisan hours, painstakingly etching the pattern. In fact it is 3D printed and like a true artist’s work it is completely a one-off – the skill of the modern digital artisan remains equally important as the traditional artist.
That is the great thing about this new technology, combining the feel of the old with the potential of the new, and really the possibilities are endless when you combine an idea with those who know how to make it become reality.
Making our way to the rear of The Glasshouse, this comes to light with a three-panel bronze cortex gate acting as a functional feature wall. Another example of how we can approach surfaces differently, and the texture is as engaging as the finish. These new approaches to printing and surface treatments bookend the home and also showcase the possibilities we have to hand.
The application of this technology isn’t just limited to doors, nor is it limited to metal. Today we can print on virtually any substrate from terracotta to glass, including concrete and timber, with an added dimension of up to 150mm meaning it really does come down to your imagination.
3D printed doors are just the beginning of what this new technology can offer. Left: Grand Designs by Chris Knierem - Design Construct (Photograph by Belinda Knierem) Right: Smith Residence in New Zealand by Di Smith (Photograph by Di Smith).
By engaging a graphic designer or artist in the process, any pattern can be achieved to create a statement piece in the home that is truly yours. HouseLab co-founder Marcus Piper recently pushed the boundaries of this thinking with his Differences series exhibited at the Australian Design Centre.
Printing on aluminium plate, the graphically-geometric series showed how 2 and 3-dimensional printing can hang together as one – playing with light to create depth in what would otherwise be a flat plane.
'It’s like printing an enormous magazine cover and they look different from every angle!' says Piper, who has been designing magazines for the last 20 years and is now endlessly excited about the potential of being able to produce artworks up to 1600x2400mm.
Difference 03 and Difference 01 by Marcus Piper, printed and 3D printed on aluminium at the Axolotl showroom.
And really size is the only limitation here – be it a garage door, a contemporary take on a pressed-tin ceiling or a poolside glass facade it comes down to the mark you want to make, as combining these multiple printed panels opens up a world of opportunity.
So, what lies ahead in surface technology? The sky is the limit but it ultimately comes down to finding the right team who understand the potential and can make the most of it in a way that suits a home. One thing is for sure, print is well and truly alive and it is definitely going places.
THE TAKE HOMES 1. Engaging a graphic designer or artist who understands the process can achieve incredible results. 2. 3D and surface printing can be applied to almost any substrate across applications from doors to bed-heads. 3. Being able to apply metal, concrete or stone finishes with 3D printing can make for a cheaper, lighter-weight outcome, perfect for joinery or feature walls. 4. The options and combinations that can be utilised with this new technology is seemingly endless, something your architect or interior designer will be able to advise on.
Last month Bondi scored its newest hospitality gem with the opening of all-day eatery The Pacific Club Bondi Beach.
Making its home within Campbell Parade's Pacific Building, the chic bistro and beach club boasts an enviable team of well-known hospitality luminaries to help bring it to life.
Harvest Newrybar's Bret Cameron is heading up the kitchen, an expansive wine programme comes courtesy of award-winning sommelier Chris Morrison, and 2016 Australian Bartender of the Year Michael Chiem is lending his talents to the cocktail list. The space itself is the work of internationally renowned hospitality designer Michael McCann, from Dreamtime Australia Design.
“Our lifestyles call for dining that is an extension of the way we live. With the open planned kitchen as its centrepiece, the ‘home away from home’ environment has drawn on whitewashed palettes, warm wooden textures, and finished with the polish of marble,” says McCann of his vision.
The whitewashed palettes throughout the restaurant were provided courtesy of the Axolotl Paint range, with TimberWash Interior in Roan used on the walls and ceilings. The colour imbues a clean minimalist aesthetic that makes the very most of its beachside locale. With its idyllic waterfront location we think The Pacific Club is definitely worth a visit.
The award winning Axolotl Concrete has expanded the potential for concrete surfaces in design since it was introduced in 2011. One recent project which has really stood out to us is this Sydney residence designed by Handelsmann + Khaw, using the Slate Pseudo Smooth Axolotl Concrete.
Axolotl’s Slate Concrete brings a rustic beauty to the project and is available in Pseudo Smooth texture shown here, as well as Lunar surface texture. It can be applied onto just about any substrate as well as designs with complex shapes and sizes.
"We used the Axolotl finishes to imbue the warm minimalist style of the home with a subtle sense of luxury. The colour and texture of the Slate Pseudo Smooth concrete coating contrasted beautifully with the white walls, oak joinery and paonazzetto marble bench tops." - Tania Handelsmann of Handelsmann + Khaw.
Handelsmann + Khaw's client states; "The Axolotl finishes throughout came up beautifully. We are thrilled with it all!"
For more information on Axolotl Concrete please visit our showroom or website, or call the office today.
Terrazzo is one of 2018's biggest interior design trends, so it is timely for Axolotl to launch its newest surface, Axolotl Terrazzo.
Versatility is the key to its success — Axolotl Terrazzo can be customised with fine or oversized aggregate in monochromatic, pastel or bold colour tones, and is available in a range of concrete colours to complement a variety of residential and commercial styles.
The history of terrazzo can be traced back to the ancient mosaics of Egypt, and its predecessors date back 8,000 years to the Venetians. Fast forward to 2018 and terrazzo has been reinvented by Axolotl as a cementitious surface that is only 0.5mm thick and available in almost any colour combination. Axolotl Terrazzo can be applied to flat panels up to 1600x2400mm. Unlike a traditional terrazzo, you can design way beyond shelf colours and create the perfect scheme to fit your design.
Axolotl Terrazzo is not a laminate, but rather an applied finish whereby the fine coloured aggregate is bound in the Axolotl Concrete treatment. It can be applied to almost any substrate including MDF and mild steel. Axolotl Terrazzo is suitable for internal applications, and each panel is treated to order. Applications can include counter fronts, feature walls, lift interiors, cabinetry, splash backs and signage. The unique properties of our terrazzo provide a flexible surface effect that encompasses the beauty of terrazzo without the common weight, colour and size restrictions of the traditional material.
For more information on Axolotl Terrazzo visit our website or showroom, or call the office today.
A hundred years ago six Diggers returned from the poppy fields of France, sat on Freshwater beach and discussed creating a place where they could be together and support each other. This was the genesis of the Harbord Diggers and the original Diggers are now honoured by the six poppies in a Memorial artwork by artist Jade Oakley. This impressive work was recently manufactured in partnership with Oakley and installed at the entry of the newly renovated Harbord Diggers venue. The glowing perforated brass background represents the sea and the sand of Freshwater beach. The flickering light of the concealed flames within each poppy are a reminder of the eternal flame, and the poppies appear to ‘grow’ from a reflective pool lined with dark granite below. The words ‘Courage, Sacrifice, Endurance and Mateship’ are carved in 20mm thick black stone and pinned to the wet edge of the pool.
Each poppy has been hand beaten from 3mm mild steel by artistic blacksmiths Lok Sutherland and Chris Sulis. The marks of the hammer are still evident on the metal surface. These sculptures have been borne from strength and force, as the blacksmiths physically struggled with the material. This sense of physicality lends potency to the artwork, which commemorates the bravery, ingenuity and strength of our soldiers.
In true form of Oakley’s art practice, the poppies are kinetic. Each poppy is balanced on a hidden hook, so that when the Southerly blows in off the sea the sculptures bob and dance like poppies in a field. This movement lends a lightness to the work and creates a surprising interaction between this, an essentially indoor artwork, and the exposed headland on which the Diggers is located.
Feng Shui dictates that this site represents fire. This has been achieved through the warmth of the polished Axolotl copper surface and the flame lights flickering within the poppies as well as the glowing perforated background, reflected in the water. The wet edge of the pool creates a very calm experience through sound and a sense of flow and movement. This feels like a meditative space. An appropriate place to pause and remember our Diggers.
When the artwork was commissioned to Jade Oakley, Dale Hunt, the then Mounties Group General Manager of Northern Sites, asked Jade if anyone in her family had fought in a war. “What kind of memorial would you make for them?”
"Dale was right to ask this question, because what he was demanding from me as an Artist was not a design solution, but an intensely personal response to the creation of a War Memorial at the new Harbord Diggers. The work needed to be more than symbolic; it needed to tell the particular narrative of Harbord’s original returned Diggers.
And was this the artwork that I would have made for my own Grandfather, who was a surgeon on the Kokoda Track in WW2? My Grandfather performed an emergency surgery on a young soldier who had had part of his scull shot off. He beat a shilling to create a temporary plate to seal the man’s scull. So for Grandpa’s memorial I would have hand beaten a shilling into a large flat disc. Maybe it was this thought that underpinned the design of the Memorial after all.” Jade Oakley
AAP project managed the Memorial artwork and worked closely with Oakley throughout development, design, fabrication and installation, from digitising Oakley’s drawings of the sea’s perforations, through to exploring the materiality of the work.
Jade Oakley’s Interplay is a site specific public artwork which was commissioned by Waverley Council after winning the public vote.
The artwork aims to protect, celebrate and draw attention to this important natural feature in this busy urban mall.
"When I first thought about Waverley Mall as the site for a public artwork I was drawn to the trees. They are the most beautiful element in this place. They provide shade and shelter, beauty and calm. Every branch describes a different curve through the air. Every single leaf of these trees is unique. I wanted to embrace them.
‘Interplay’ expresses a symbiotic dance between art and nature. The sculptural forms are poised mid-waltz with the trees. Each of these screens is unique, inspired by microscopic photographs of plants. They are intended as a reminder of the little marvels that surround us; growth, decay, transformation.
These sculptures began with my drawings of the cellular structure of plants. The drawings were digitised and laser cut from 8mm thick mild steel. The screens were rolled to create a curve, then hand beaten by blacksmiths to create interesting sculptural forms. After galvanising the screens were coated with Axolotl copper and aged with Verdigris and Florentine, hand polished and sealed. The effect created is of a richly aged surface. The sculptures that look like they belong here beneath the trees, and as though they have always been here." Jade Oakley
AAP worked with Jade Oakley and Creative Road on the design and fabrication of Interplay from concept design through to the polish of the aged Axolotl metal surface treatment.
Sydney's newest and most creatively unique, hotel – The Collectionist – has officially opened, ready to change the way guests choose to stay and experience hotels.
The Camperdown situated hotel, is the first for The Collectionist Hotel brand with plans to take the unique concept to other Sydney locations and interstate.
Described as a real-life “choose-your-own-adventure”, the eclectically designed hotel will set a new standard in individualised guest experiences. Opting away from standardised décor in rooms, The Collectionist commissioned the talents of 13 artists and seven designers from four leading design studios, to create 39 individually designed rooms. Instead of rooms being allocated by the hotel, guests are invited to peruse available rooms on check-in and choose their room based on the style, colour, texture and design - just as they would a work of art.
Any design team that took on a brief involving 40 individually designed rooms could be called both adventurous and bold. Enter Andrew Cliffe, founder of “The World is Round”. Having been invited to bid on the project Cliffe set about assembling a team of designers who could bring the vision to life. “The brief was for every room to be different - a massive task for one designer. To win the project I needed to think differently,” says Cliffe. “Originally, I was imagining ten designers doing four rooms each, but reality set in and this switched to four designers doing ten rooms each.” The design teams credited with bringing The Collectionist concept to life include The World is Round, Amber Road, Willis Sheargold and Pattern Studio.
Yasmine Ghoniem from Amber Road says about the Collectionist, "Our objective here was for each room to evoke a particular memory: a holiday, a dream, a person, an idea, an experience - ultimately something that would elicit a strong emotive response from the guest. To create our desired response we employed a riot of colour, texture and artful detailing and in doing so, transformed each room into a feast for the senses”.
The riot of colour was injected into the hotel with the use of the Axolotl Paint range. Metta, Chroma and Micaceous paints in varying sheen levels adorn the walls, ceilings and trims throughout the eclectic hotel. In some cases our paints were also used in the graphic artworks and on the furnishings. Axolotl Paint was chosen due to the superior paintability, quality and depth of tone achieved, as well as the beautiful matt finishes available in both the Metta and Chroma range.
To see more images of the uniquely designed rooms at The Collectionist hotel click here.
The impressive design of The Glasshouse, Paddington is the result of Nina Maya Interiors working in a unique collaboration with some of Australia’s leading architectural suppliers.
The dilapidated site in Paddington was demolished last year to make way for the new architecturally designed show-home.
The layout uses every square centimetre of the site, while the floor to ceiling glass in the central axis of the residence delivers an abundance of natural light into the open layout. This impressive feature is centred over an internal pond and can be viewed from nearly every angle of the home.
Axolotl metals bookend the design, with a custom Splice design entry door and handle in an aged Gold Bronze finish welcoming you inside and hinting at the luxury you will find within. While a clever three panel siding gate across the rear of the property in our Bronze Cortex design becomes a large outdoor feature wall, viewable from the internal living areas.
Inside, The Glasshouse, entwines bold and luxe material choices including green Verde marble from Euromarble, moody textured timber veneer joinery by New Age Veneers, satin tap-ware by Rogerseller, and the new cleverly flush mounted switch range by Zetr.
Axolotl Paint from the Chroma range is painted throughout the interior and exterior of the home in colours Ryder and Stratus. Our Chroma flat wall paint providing the perfect matte backdrop for the sophisticated design of the home.
The Glasshouse sets a new standard for stylish and functional inner city living, fitted out with the highest quality design and products, and optimally located in the prestigious suburb of Paddington.
We are excited to have been a part of The Glasshouse, and to work with Nina and other leading architectural suppliers.
The Glasshouse is open for inspection by appointment. Feel free to contact us here if you would like to arrange a visit to discuss the products used or how we can assist with your own project.
When Westfield commissioned Australian artist Jade Oakley to produce ambient art pieces for their central escalator cladding and a multi storey lift well at Westfield Parramatta she was instantly inspired by the indigenous plants of the area.
“I was amazed to find Lake Parramatta, tucked in behind a busy road, with some really beautiful original forest around it, including towering gum trees and mossy glades with trickling streams and tree ferns. I spent a day there sketching and photographing and thinking. Looking up is an artwork that sprang from this encounter with a surprising pocket of nature in a busy part of Sydney.”
‘Looking up’ is installed over the body of four escalators located in the centre court of Westfield Parramatta. Created using a white on white palette, this artwork is intricate and elegant all at once. Viewers can study the artwork while walking through the centre court and riding the escalators to the levels above.
The cladding is made from Alucobond treated in a custom shimmering white 2pak. The background features an etched relief of the forest canopy, and the panels are embellished with a second layer of perforated leaf screens that wrap around the sides of the escalators.
See more photos of the project, including production and process shots by visiting the project page on ourart website.
Axolotl Florida launched in the middle of 2017 and the team dove straight into some exciting projects to flex their creativity and know how in the US design scene.
The first project showcased is a private residence where our Zinc surfaces were utilised as a continuous theme throughout, with Zinc Lunar Pearl treatments to the feature walls and bar, and Zinc Smooth applied to the staircase to stunning effect. Finished to the highest standard, this project has a modern and sophisticated design sensibility which expertly shows how to introduce features that harmonise with the overall design of the home.
In a separate project, Axolotl Bronze Florentine in our Skyline design was applied to the bar front at the new Florida bar, Casa D’Angelo. The end result is sophisticated and elegant, and complements the lavish bar décor.
