That's the Rub!


Pop Up Exhibition

We collaborated with Common Objects ceramics studio as both our studios are obsessed with British craft and exploring skilled trades. The opportunity to create an exhibition space for the British Textile Biennale and Showtown, Blackpool is an opportunity to bring these two fundamental aspects of our creative work together.

Our concept was to house the exhibition space in a structure clad with 132 bespoke terracotta tiles hung on timber pegs. Each tile is embossed with a relief pattern from items within British textile collections - we used the Lancashire Textile Gallery collections to produce the patterns on the tiles. 

The pegs that support the tiles continue internally to support the art works.

When set up for external use the artworks are protected from the elements with a clerestory roof that allows light into the space from above to illuminate the works. The overlapping arrangement of tiles and structural walls also shed rain well - essential in this part of the world! As the structure is very stable we propose a simple spreader foot to take the load on a range of ground types.





Status: Competition Entry
Client: British Textile Biennial
Location: Blackpool, UK
Ceramics: Common Objects





When set up for interior use both the interior and exterior walls can be used for the presentation of the prints and artworks. The arrangement of pegs within the grid is fully customisable both internally and externally and will very easily accommodate 100 A4 prints, with some larger format prints.

The entire exhibition space is designed to be interactive in that the tiles are designed for visitors to be able to take rubbings from them - building up textile elements to recreate complex patterns, or experimenting with new combinations!

That’s the Rub!



Project Development.







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