Materials — Clay plaster

Clay plaster for interiors in Dubai and across the Gulf

Breathable, unfired clay plaster from Clayworks in Cornwall, held in Dubai and applied by our own artisans across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf. Interior walls and ceilings, colour through the body, nothing to off-gas.

Cornwall, United Kingdom

Clayworks, from Cornwall to the Gulf

Clayworks makes unfired natural clay plasters in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The clay is blended, coloured and bagged rather than fired, which is why the finished surface stays breathable and carries its colour through the body. The company holds the King's Award for Enterprise 2023.

Earth Layers is Clayworks' sole authorised distributor and approved applicator across the Middle East. We hold the range in Dubai and apply it with our own crews. The artisans are on our payroll and trained on the system, not brought in project by project.

For a specifier that means one party for the whole wall. Material and workmanship sit under a single warranty, so there is no gap between supply and application to argue over when a sample, a substrate condition or a snag needs resolving. One point of contact from mock-up to handover.

clay-works.com →

Smooth clay plaster The quietest of the Clayworks classic finishes. A flat, even mineral surface that reads as depth of colour rather than texture, trowelled tight so the movement sits in the pigment and not in the relief. Demi Rustic clay plaster The middle register of the Clayworks range: more aggregate and more trowel movement than Smooth, but still a disciplined wall. The marks read as worked material rather than applied texture. Rustic clay plaster The most open of the three Clayworks classics. Coarse aggregate is left proud and the trowel worked loosely, so the wall carries genuine relief — hand-made at arm's length, texture across a room. Tonal clay plaster Colour that moves across a wall rather than sitting flat on it. Tonal is graded by hand in a single pass, so the transition is decided on the wall itself, not in the factory. Tadelakt The finish that goes where clay plaster cannot. Lime and clay, compressed with stone and sealed with olive soap, for bathrooms, hammams and showers across Dubai and the UAE. Rammed earth finish A clay plaster laid in compacted bands at 7-10 mm, so an interior wall reads as rammed earth without carrying its weight. Sixteen texture studies sit in the sample library, running cream through ochre to terracotta. Exterior clay plaster A dedicated exterior clay system for facades and garden walls — a different product from the interior plasters, not the interior plaster used outside. Exterior Demi-Rustic, Exterior Rustic, and a Tamped Earth custom effect. Custom finishes Twenty-one effects, from hand carved to gold fleck. See them all →

Anaglyptic Raised relief worked into the clay, echoing embossed Victorian wallcoverings. The pattern reads through shadow and raking light rather than colour. Arakabe A Japanese-influenced coat with chopped straw left visible in the surface, giving a matt, fibrous field that reads warm and quiet. Clay on Brick Clay skimmed thinly over brickwork so the bond pattern and mortar joints stay legible beneath a soft, even mineral surface. Coarse Rustic Large aggregate left proud in an open, granular surface. Grit and shadow at close range, a calm even tone across a room. Corduroy Fine parallel ridges run the height of the wall, catching light in narrow lines and reading as stripe without any colour change. Corrugated Deeper, regular waves pressed into the clay. A stronger rhythm than corduroy, with real shadow depth over long wall runs. Fluted Rounded vertical channels formed in a thicker clay build, giving classical fluting in a matt mineral surface rather than joinery. Gold Fleck Fine metallic flecks suspended through the clay body. Restrained in flat daylight, they lift only where light strikes at an angle. Hand Carved Relief carved into the plaster by hand while it is still workable. Each panel is drawn for the project and never repeats exactly. Heavy Skip Heavily skipped trowel work leaves raised islands over a flatter ground: coarse, irregular texture with strong directional shadow. Moonscape A cratered field of shallow hollows and ridges. Dramatic under grazing light, close to flat when the room is lit diffusely. Ombre Colour A gradual shift from one clay colour into another across a wall, blended while wet so no join or banding is visible. Ombre Texture One colour throughout, with texture graded from smooth to coarse across the wall so the change reads only in shadow. Pitted Small irregular pocks opened across an otherwise even surface, a quiet texture that adds depth without breaking the wall plane. Pressed Linen The weave of linen pressed into fresh clay, leaving a fine woven grain that softens light across large flat areas. Pressed Timber Sawn timber grain and board edges pressed into the clay, holding the memory of shuttering in a mineral surface. Raked Combed lines drawn through the surface while soft. Direction, spacing and depth are set for the wall rather than standardised. Tamped Earth Compacted layered courses that recall rammed earth, with faint horizontal lifts and a dry, matt, mineral face. Thatched Long directional strokes laid in overlapping passes to suggest thatch. Texture is strongest where each pass meets the next. Travertine Effect Open voids and soft banding worked into the clay to read as cut travertine, warm and matt, without the weight of stone. Undulating Gentle swells and hollows built into the plaster so the wall plane moves slowly, most visible in low, raking light.

Villa 515, Dubai Clay plaster — Demi Rustic and Smooth through the restaurant View the project →

Canvas Events Pavilion, Dubai Exterior clay plaster on the curved facade View the project →

We will make as many trial panels as it takes to arrive at the surface you want, on the substrate you are building on. Send the finishes schedule, or come to the showroom in Riyadh and put a hand on the range.