at Central Saint Martins.
Clay Lab
Clay Lab transforms ceramic practice into shared knowledge: turning experimentation, discovery and making into a living resource for learning and innovation.
Capturing and connecting knowledge generated through making, Clay Lab brings together student and faculty projects, material experiments and case studies to reveal the processes behind ceramic practice.
A shared platform and living tool that supports learning, collaboration and discovery, we want to transform individual experimentation into collective knowledge.
We are a community of teachers, technicians, students and alumni who identify ceramic design at Central Saint Martins as a space of innovation and research.
Key projects
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Design Transforms Borders, New York Design Festival 2022 | Photograph: Neal Camilleri.
Design Transforms Borders
A @NYCxDesign project: Central Saint Martins invited the public to join a live studio of ceramic-making dinners and debates, addressing learning and social justice with the communities of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York.
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Decoding Ceramics project design.
Decoding Ceramics
An open-access platform sharing the Erasmus+ CRAFT project outputs: an interactive European map pinpointing ceramic skills, materials and traditions; university teaching cards adaptable to studios; and a multilingual glossary .
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Art codes, courtesy of CSM Clay Lab.
Artcodes
Beauty meets function in decorative ceramic patterns that secretly contain visual codes. Working with designers and a restaurant, we developed recognition tech and pattern collections and prototyped smart tableware with an app.
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Photo courtesy of Tony Quinn, CSM Clay Lab.
Craftsmanship Alone Is Not Enough
Clay isn't just traditional—it's radical. We explore how makers exploit clay's archetypes and processes to challenge assumptions, unlocking new perspectives on ceramic practice, from studio to society.
Meet some of our practitioners
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Tony Quinn. Photo: Marcus Bastel
Anthony Quinn
Tony is Reader, Course Leader and Stage 3 Leader, BA (Hons) Ceramic Design and Subject Leader in Ceramics for MA Design: Ceramics, Furniture, Jewellery at Central Saint Martins. He has a broad creative practice ranging from education, design, writing and consultancy, working across a range of disciplines and materials. As a design consultant he works with a range of clients such as British Airways, Debenhams and Wedgwood.
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Sara Howard. Photo courtesy of the designer.
Sara Howard
2020 graduate and award-winning British designer, Sara is dedicated to pioneering circular and regenerative systems in the ceramics industry. In her final year, she developed an industrial symbiosis model for ceramics, where industrial waste replaces virgin raw materials in ceramic production. In 2022, she scaled up in collaboration with Kevala, a ceramic tableware manufacturer in Bali. Sara's methods are detailed in 'Circular Ceramics', a book that empowers ceramicists to integrate sustainable practices in their work.
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Stuart Carey. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Stuart Carey
From Clay to Kiln: Stuart's passion for sharing his craft is evident in his book 'From Clay to Kiln', which demystifies ceramics for all skill levels. Committed to promoting ceramics, Stuart also serves as an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins, a senior consultant on Channel 4's 'The Great Pottery Throw Down' and an on screen mentor for the BBC’s 'Make It At Market'. He aims to rejuvenate interest in ceramics and ensure its future success.
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Helen Johannsen.
Helen Johanssessen
Helen’s practice spans over 3 decades of making, teaching and mentoring within ceramic arts and industry. Known for her playfulness, precision and deep material understanding, she works across art, education and consultancy, helping others unlock their own ideas through process and connections. Her ceramic artwork explores the relationships between plaster, porcelain, and surface — combining technical skill with a curiosity for how materials record time, touch and transformation.
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Photo: Marcus Bastel
Duncan Hooson
Duncan teaches across BA Ceramic Design, with a specialist focus on design relating to technologies including clay, glazes and production. Duncan is co-director of Clayground Collective, an independent UK arts organisation established to realise Project Clay - a venture to create public space in London.
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Ceramicist Emma Lacey. Photo: Alun Callender
Emma Lacey
Emma's practice and positioning as a designer in a commercial context stems from her research into Emotionally Durable Design. Product longevity is ‘designed-in’ through the application of highly-crafted detailing, materiality, tactility and attention to comfort and function using contemporary design languages in both quiet and more noticeable ways.
Papers and articles
Explore more
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Image courtesy of Anthony Quinn
CRAFT: Activating Pedagogy for Ceramic Education Future
Erasmus+ funded research project.
1 September 2020 – 31 August 2023 -
'Indefinite Sensibility' by Remi Russo, 2021, BA Ceramic Design, Central Saint Martins, UAL
Bridging heritage skills and innovation in ceramics training
Inside the CRAFT European partnership, exploring how innovations in ceramics can co-exist with intangible cultural heritage and knowledge in pottery.
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PsychoPomp, Alex Morante, BA Ceramic Design 2025
BA (Hons) Ceramic Design
The transformational material of clay: exploring contexts of making, craft and manufacture.
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Alice Beckett 2025, BA (Hons) Ceramic Design, Central Saint Martins, UAL.
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