Dutch Dyke

Dutch Dyke by Nature@home is a wall covering made from mussel shells from the Dutch province of Zeeland. Each square metre holds about 540 shells, selected by hand, washed and set at random in a specially developed compound on an okoumé board.

The shells keep their natural shape and lustre. Dark, glossy valves with flecks of white and blue rise slightly from a matt grey matrix, so the wall gets a pebbled relief that changes with the light. Besides the original black, the range comes in white, a colour mix and gold, and the maker says panels can be made in almost any colour and in custom sizes.

Standard panels measure 1000 × 1000 mm, are 15 mm thick and weigh 4.8 kg per square metre. They work as single tiles within a tiled wall or cover a whole wall, with custom panels glued seamlessly on site using water-based adhesives. Dutch Dyke is meant for straight interior walls; in damp rooms only after treatment, and near a gas fire the wall should not get warmer than hand-warm. A vacuum cleaner, duster or slightly damp cloth keeps it clean.

Nature@home, based in Roosendaal in the Netherlands, makes wall panels from natural materials such as wood, bark, coconut, moss, algae and shells. Samples can be ordered online. Mussel shells are finding more uses in design, from acoustic objects made from invasive mussels to ceramic tableware.

Source & images: Nature@home