MADE TO ORDER

Traces - 50 years of The National Theatre building

September 2026

A new range of ceramics inspired by the architecture of Lasdun, who designed the building I have worked in for the last 28 years - The National Theatre.

Designed by architect Denys Lasdun and built between 1969 and 1976, the Grade II listed 250,000-square-foot building divided opinion at the time of its construction but is now widely regarded as a masterpiece of brutalist architecture. Its textured concrete, sweeping riverside terraces and three auditoriums – the Olivier, Lyttelton and Dorfman (previously Cottesloe) theatres – have become one of Britain’s most recognisable cultural landmarks. Every slab of shuttered concrete walls was made using moulds - or shutters - made by Carpenters. the concrete was poured and left to set. Once removed, the concrete was imprinted with the reverse texture of those boards. Lasdun tried many woods before concluding that Douglas fir imprinted the most pleasing texture.

Over my years of working at the NT as a stage manager and developing as a potter I was increasingly drawn towards the idea of getting the wood grain from the concrete into clay in some way. Both the way the concrete was made by pouring into moulds and the imprint made on the surface drew huge parallels to me with various pottery techniques. I just knew I had to make something connected to it. I experimented with pressing clay into the concrete walls over cling film to make sprigs but just didn’t get the right definition.

I collaborated with @thejollyoddities to develop a 3D printed textured roller made from photographs of my favourite part of the concrete.

You can visit the bookshop in the foyer of @nationaltheatre, a short walk from Waterloo Station, London.