Reimagining Hobart’s industrial past

When Steve and I moved to tassie last year, west hobart’s Knocklofty Reserve quickly became our go-to for morning meanders with umi. It’s where I walk, think and collect.

Knocklofty sits at the bottom of kunanyi and is the site of Hobart’s old sandstone quarry and brickworks. Much of the city was built with this Triassic sandstone, prized for its strength and soft pink tones. The quarry closed and the brickwork’s kiln chimneys came down around 1968, but the landscape still carries the marks.. scatterings of rubble, discarded bricks, and cut stone that the bush has now reclaimed.

over the past 12 months, I’ve been drawn to these fragments. They’re reminders of an industry that shaped the city and of materials that once had purpose but never found a place.

This table i designed for Tasmania Makes ’25 was a chance to give that material new life. I collected rock, sandstone and brick shards, all rich in feldspar and silica, key ingredients in ceramic glaze. Fired and fused into tiles, the surface tells a story of place, industry, and reinvention.

The timber in the table base was 500+ year old salvaged Myrtle from Lake Pieman, brought to the surface by Hydrowood. The result is a table that holds past, present and future in quiet conversation.

This piece felt personal. It’s about noticing what gets left behind and finding value in it. It’s about seeing potential in overlooked materials. And it’s about grounding design in place, not just in appearance, but in substance and story.

The Talus Table is available for purchase through my website.