We believe that a happy earth makes a happy home.
Fairly independent
Our products use Jesmonite, a durable, flexible and eco-friendly material that uses less energy to manufacture products. As the world around us rapidly changes, we are becoming more aware that our ways of mass consumption has to change.
Jesmonite isn’t new — infact, it was created in 1984 by Peter Hawkins — but due to it’s qualities as a durable, flexible and more environmentally friendly material it has become popular for artists, architects and businesses.
How is Jesmonite made?
Jesmonite is a non-toxic, water-based resin that is made up of 2 parts – a mineral resin powder (gypsum, also found in chalk) and a water-based acrylic liquid.
It is a versatile material that can be used in many different ways. Typically used for sculptures and other three-dimensional works, it can also be used as a surface material in construction, or as an alterantive to polyster and fiberglass.
It is a fantastic material to use when casting or moulding, like we do here at AVKA to create products such as our LULU pots or BIZU trinket trays, because it is lightweight, flexible, durable and the mixture sets at room temperature — cutting down on the energy used to manufacture our products.
Jesmonite represents a more durable, safe and sustainable future for homewares and that’s why we use it to make all of our homewares.
Sketch.
All of our designs start off with a simple pencil sketch to find the rough form and expression of the object.
We then move to CAD software to visualise our products in a physical space, as well as creating a model that we print on a 3D printer for our prototypes.
Mould.
Once we have our 3D object we move it over to our pressure former which enables us to create precise, re-usable moulds for all of our products.
In the design phase, we iterate a few times on these designs and moulds until we are happy — take our LEKKI Candle Holder for example — that went through twelve different iterations!
Pour.
With our moulds ready and the Jesmonite mixed up, we’re ready to form the products.
With the way Jesmonite works, you are never entirely sure of the exact pattern you are going to get — which is why all of our products are unique — but this is part of the charm.
Complete
After setting at room temperature, everything is ready to be sanded down and shipped to you. Our team of designers combine style and function to bring goods that don’t cost the earth to your home. Whether it’s products for your Living Room or Bathroom, our designers try to create something for everyone in a more sustainable, considered manner.