Andreas Riedel

Andreas’s material knowledge is rooted in a technical education that included physics, chemistry, technical drawing, electronics and mechanics, followed by formal training as a cabinet maker. He later deepened this foundation through Building Ecology Studies at Munich Baubiology College, exploring healthy materials and the relationship between buildings, people and the environment.

His early work and studies with the State Art Collections in Saxony brought him into contact with historic buildings, traditional craft skills, decorative painting and restoration practice. This period formed the basis of his long-standing interest in building conservation and the care of older structures.

After leaving East Germany for Australia in 1984, Andreas rebuilt his working life through practical making, restoration and site problem-solving. He went on to build a career as the owner and director of a contracting company specialising in building conservation and restoration in Western Australia.

The company’s projects included some of the oldest surviving built structures in Western Australia, as well as historic monuments, private homes, government buildings, island resorts and culturally significant buildings. This work gave Andreas direct experience with traditional mineral materials, difficult substrates, stone construction, lime mortars, historic construction methods and the practical realities of restoration work on site.

In 1989, this conservation work was recognised with a Civic Building Award from the Government of Western Australia.

Before Bauwerk Colour became an international paint company, Andreas was already making mineral paints for historic restoration projects. His interest was to take traditional lime paint seriously as a modern material: purer, more refined, technically improved and still honest to its natural character.

Together with Bronwyn Riedel, he developed Bauwerk Colour around natural limewash paint, mineral materials and a more breathable way of finishing walls. For their efforts to create sustainable products, Bauwerk Colour received the Sustainable Product Design Award at the 2004 SGIO Awards, Government of Western Australia, for its complete range of limewash paint colours.

This practical material work became one of the foundations of Bauwerk Colour: a company shaped by restoration knowledge, natural pigments, lime materials, colour expertise and the belief that beautiful surfaces should also be materially honest.

Andreas’s experience extends beyond paint into render systems, mortars, mineral surfaces, material testing and building standards. His work has included technical and market studies, specifications for renders, mortars and paint finishes, dry mortar plant design and the development of factory-produced plaster and mortar systems.

As Technical Director of a dry mortar factory in Riyadh, he was responsible for factory design, budgeting, execution of factory locations, specialised machinery and the development of products suited to the harsh climatic conditions of the Middle East. This included setting up a materials testing laboratory and consulting on standards for factory mortars in Saudi Arabia.

This technical background continues to inform Bauwerk’s guidance on surface preparation, substrate suitability, exterior exposure, mineral coatings, application systems and long-term performance.

View Bauwerk Colour certificates and technical specifications

Andreas has worked across Australia, Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, with projects in hospitality, hotels, residential buildings, offices, retail, private residences, government buildings and heritage settings.

His Middle East experience includes many years of regular project work and consulting in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. He has provided specifications, materials and finishes for selected specialist projects, including royal palace projects, heritage-related work and demanding exterior environments where mineral surfaces, climate, substrate behaviour and finish integrity are central.

This experience continues to shape Bauwerk’s approach to natural finishes for architect-led and high-value projects, especially where the ambition is to create calm, durable, repairable mineral surfaces with natural depth and maintenance expectations appropriate to the site conditions.

At Bauwerk Colour, Andreas contributes to product guidance, application advice, technical explanation and educational content for homeowners, designers, architects and applicators. His role is to make complex material questions easier to understand without oversimplifying the nature of limewash itself.

A central part of his work is preserving the honesty of limewash as a material: improving the product and the guidance around it without forcing it to behave like a conventional synthetic paint.

His writing and guidance focus on practical questions: how limewash behaves on different substrates, why preparation matters, how mineral finishes respond to light and weather, when exterior exposure requires maintenance, and how natural variation should be understood as part of the character of the material.

Andreas’s perspective is shaped by long-term stewardship. For him, sustainability is not only a product claim. It is also a way of building: protecting quality, customer care, independence, family life, natural materials and the places entrusted to the next generation.

This long view is central to Bauwerk Colour. Limewash is valued not because it behaves like a standard paint, but because it creates a breathable, mineral, light-responsive surface with depth, movement and natural variation.

Andreas’s writing helps customers understand not only how to use limewash paint, but how to think about it: as a natural material whose beauty depends on the relationship between paint, surface, hand, light and time.

For selected projects of architectural, cultural or long-term material significance, Andreas may provide specialist guidance where limewash, mineral surfaces, render systems, substrate behaviour, exterior exposure or conservation requirements are central to the outcome.

Andreas’s project guidance is considered selectively, primarily for architect-led, high-value or culturally significant projects where early material decisions can shape the long-term quality of the finish.

This may include projects where limewash, mineral surfaces, render systems, substrate behaviour, exterior exposure, conservation requirements or natural finish strategy are central to the architectural outcome.

Depending on the project, guidance may include early material direction, substrate and surface review, limewash or mineral finish specification, render and mortar advice, exterior exposure considerations, maintenance expectations, and coordination with the Bauwerk Colour team on colour, finish and application approach.

Project enquiries should include the location, building type, project stage, surfaces involved, interior or exterior scope, design team, expected finish requirements and the type of guidance required.

Enquire about selected project guidance

Andreas spoke with The Aggregate by New Age Artisans in the episode “Another twenty years – How patience, humility, and alchemy have shaped the past, present, and future of Bauwerk Color.”

In the conversation, Andreas discusses his early life in East Germany, his move to Australia, restoration work, the origins of Bauwerk Colour, natural pigments, limewash, sustainable business growth and the long-term future of the company.

Listen to the interview on Spotify

Andreas contributes to Bauwerk Colour content where material knowledge, application, substrates, preparation, exterior exposure, maintenance and long-term surface behaviour are central.

Selected topics include:

• —limewash paint as a natural mineral finish
• —how limewash differs from conventional paint
• —interior and exterior limewash application
• —surface preparation and substrate suitability
• —mineral paint behaviour
• —limewash maintenance and repainting
• —troubleshooting natural variation
• —specifications for mineral surfaces, renders and paint finishes
• —technical and material guidance for customers, designers, architects and applicators