Since its inception in 2018, the Shaw Road Ceramics studio and shop can be found nestled amongst the peaceful apple orchards of Oratia, West Auckland, Aotearoa. Although ceramicist and sculptor Melissa Hastings had her roots firmly planted in film and theatre design, she went on to follow a passion for the environmental arts after moving out to the west coast of Tāmaki Makaurau. Melissa led and collaborated in many environmental art projects in local schools, which led on to mentoring the amazing rangatahi of Kākano Youth Arts Collective.

Shed 27 became a perfect setting for Melissa to refine this love for the environment that features often in her exhibition pieces and collections. The functional stoneware pieces are often portrayed in soft tones with a nod to the modernist era. This can been seen even more emphatically in her architectural series of sculptural vessels.