The mechanisms whereby Laponite, a synthetic clay of the hectorite type, is consolidated, have been identified. This relatively monodisperse clay consists of disc-like anisotropic particles of nanometric size which have strongly anisotropic surface charges as the edges have a positive charge and the faces a negative one. These colloidal particles aggregate to form, depending on the physicochemical parameters, an isotropic gel. In this study, the inter-particle interactions may be modified by adding a peptizer, tetrasodium diphosphate. This peptizer consists of anions that attach themselves to the edges of the clay particles and tend to give them a negative surface charge. A large amount of literature is available on this clay, concerning restricted ranges of volume fractions in the dilute to semi-dilute domains, i.e., less than 3%. These studies was concerned by the influence of inter-particles interactions via the aqueous media on the physicochemical properties, on the structure of the dispersions and at larger length scales on their macroscopic behaviour. Other scarcer studies have considered consolidation as a way to concentrate the dispersions because they cannot be concentrated further using normal mixing techniques. These studies do not try to rely the structure and the macroscopic behaviour of the dispersions during and after consolidation.