Like most people I am reluctant to change, not actually opposed, but throwing out tried and tested methods in favour of the new and unproven can be difficult. In the field of furniture design and especially within manufacturing, development is ongoing and whilst we welcome developments that make life easier and improve the quality of…
Medium density fibreboard is a great material but has a poor reputation with the general public and some specifiers. Like all materials, there are good ways of using them and bad ways. The best way to illustrate this is by comparing canvas with silk; they are both fabrics, you could make a tent from silk…
What inspires your designs? To me, it’s the conversation with the client, when I try to get them to express what they are after in ways that allow me to get a sense of the aesthetic and understand the functionality. I like to use books for traditional design work in order to be accurate, but…
Commissioning truly unique furniture and specifying joinery in a high-end development, not only provides a bespoke, luxury finish but is also a great investment for the end user. Our best relationships with developers and interior designers are always the ones where they involve us in the design process at the earliest stage so we can…
We use a lot of glass in our furniture from decorative panels to simple protection of a surface. It is a major subject, we have tried to cover some of the basics. What is the difference between Float glass and Annealed glass? Fundamentally they are the same thing, the float process is the method…
I recently attended the HQR Ball, which for those who don’t know is the social event of the year for all those working in the high-end residential building and design industry. As well as being a good night out, it raises significant amounts of cash for worthy causes. A couple of days afterwards, I played…
Our first foray into working abroad was with Gabhan O’Keeffe in New York, and was a suite of furniture for a bedroom. A four-poster bed with rock crystal blocks in the posts, a circular upholstered seat with a hidden tv, in the days when televisions where big boxes, and dado panelling with new shutters for…
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I have found myself saying it quite a bit lately and I’m not the only one. So, it got me thinking, is it such a bad thing to make mistakes? If we consider the process that scientists go through before making a break through, they spend hours of their time…
As with anything that’s really important quite a lot of comment is ill informed and lovingly sprinkled with a particular prejudice or political viewpoint; the truth being different things to different people and although the internet is a wonderful thing, it also allows any viewpoint to be widely expressed without any regard for accuracy. Global…
