Behind the Skip Tile: A Conversation with Alusid Founder Alasdair Bremner

Q: How did the idea for Alusid first come about?

The seeds were planted as part of a research project (named ‘The Aesthetic of Waste’) at the University of Central Lancashire. Together with Professor David Binns, I explored how overlooked and undervalued waste materials destined for landfill could be given a second life. The aim wasn’t just recycling; it was to create beautiful, high-end products for the architectural and interior market.

We were later granted funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which evolved our academic experiment into a business.

Q: What’s unique about your process?

Many so-called sustainable products still rely on synthetic binders such as resins or cement. We’ve taken a different route, one that doesn’t involve chemicals.

Instead, we fire our materials at carefully controlled temperatures, allowing them to fuse naturally and create their unique aesthetic. That interaction between components gives our surfaces their distinctive texture and variation.

Q: What kind of materials do you work with?

We mainly use two types: glass, mostly from post-consumer sources, like bottles and windows, and waste porcelain, typically from defective or rejected sanitaryware.

The UK has a massive surplus of this kind of waste, so we’re tapping into an abundant and largely unused stream of raw material.

Q: Sustainability is clearly central to your process. Can you walk us through what that looks like in practice?

Sustainability goes beyond just what we put into the products. Our manufacturing process generates zero waste. Any off-cuts or leftovers are recycled back into production. And at the end of their life, our surfaces can be broken down and reprocessed.

It’s a closed loop. We’re also careful about energy use. Our firing temperatures are significantly lower than for conventional ceramics.

Q: What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to growth?

Balancing scale with integrity. It’s relatively easy to produce something sustainable on a small scale, but much harder to maintain those standards in mass production.

We currently have limited capacity, as our facilities are designed to handle batch projects, as opposed to large-scale production. That’s something we’re hoping to change in the next months.

With Skip Tile, we’ve proved it’s possible, but we’re also committed to keeping our hands-on, human-centred approach. That’s what gives our products their character.

All our staff at our facility in Preston, Lancashire, are either trained craftsmen and women or trained in-house to understand and appreciate the inherent beauty of our sustainable products.

Q: FRONT is your partner in selling the Skip Tile. What sets it apart?

Skip Tile (Mas Range) is our first fully scalable floor and wall tile and one of the lowest carbon ceramic tiles available today.

It’s made with 95-98.5% recycled content (depending on the colour), but what really makes it different is the dry granulation process we developed. It drastically reduces water and energy use without compromising on performance.

Q: Why should architects and designers consider specifying a product like Skip Tile?

Because it’s time to do more than just talk about sustainability. The materials we choose have a real impact.

We’ve created something that delivers on aesthetics, performance, and environmental responsibility. But innovation only matters if it’s used. Designers have the power to lead by example and show clients and the industry what’s possible.

FRONT is a proud partner of Alusid. Together, we continue to experiment with new materials and new forms, because there’s so much more we can do with the technology Alusid has developed. But to take it further, we need architects, developers and creatives who are ready to try something different.