Collected Material File #02
Tile FRAGMENTS
Collection Details
47 Easey Street, Collingwood, 3066, Victoria
Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country
Courtesy of Robbie Neville, Revival Projects
April & November 2022
Collection Type
Construction and demolition rubble/byproduct from an adaptive reuse warehouse renovation
Previous Use
Floor finishing on Ground floor of building
The story of collection
The first batch of material collected as part of the Breaking Ground research project included tile debris, reclaimed from a 1920s warehouse at 47 Easey Street, Collingwood. In 2022, after their inaugural MDW talk, I reached out to Robbie Neville from Revival Projects, a B-corp certified sustainable building practice based in Collingwood.
Hoping that I could go on site and collect exposed clay or earthworks that were about to be displaced or sent to landfill, I realised when arriving on site that there was instead an abundance of construction and demolition ‘waste’ or byproducts that were deemed unsuitable for recycling.
The tiles were located on the ground floor and had machinery and heavy loads rolling over the top of them to the point of shattering. When I visited in April 2022, they simply crumbled away from the concrete slab and packing sand they were sitting on top of.
It’s unknown when these tiles were installed in the warehouse past PBS FM’s tenancy. Their brand name is ‘Quarry Tile’ and they’re manufactured in Maranello, Italy, by SIMA Ceramiche or Simagres. While not necessarily telling a local story of materiality, the tiles do say something about global manufacture and supply chains.
Extended Material Data
Coordinates
-37.79785412649077, 144.98661158830336
Council / Zoning
Yarra, C2Z (Commercial 2)
Material Origin
Maranello, Italy. Manufactured by SIMA Ceramiche, Simagres
Composition
Ground minerals (feldspar, clay, shale) Potential high oxide content or iron content, resulting in metallic sheen and bubbling after firing
Measurements (mm)
100(w) x 200(l) x 8(h) +1mm where there is a protrusion
Absorption
Approx. 2%
Appearance
Deep red colour, smooth, unglazed. 18 protrusions on back (6 rows of 3 per tile)
Characteristics & Crushing Notes
Dense
Shatters easily but then hard to grind into small particles
Breaks into sharp fragments
Loud and clangy
Post-firing Characteristics (Cone 6)
Highly metallic
Sheen on surface
Large piece produces bubbling
Potential Applications in Ceramics