Gianluca Caregnato, from near Milan in northern Italy, has taken third prize in our first-ever bedside cabinet competition, winning the modest prize of a bottle wine.

This year we gave all our students the task of individually completing a bedside cabinet before the Christmas break.

It may seem like an unusual task, but a bedside cabinet is the perfect way to teach the rudiments of making drawers and doors, and set within a relatively small piece of furniture.

For his relatively large Gothic-inspired pine cabinet, veneered with rosewood, Gianluca had to first learn the basics of joining wood with tenon and dovetail joints, as well as becoming familiar with some of the equipment, including the domino machine.

Our bedside cabinet project therefore allows students learn some basic skills – which they will continue to use as points of reference throughout their careers.

“Most woodworkers will go on making things like drawers and cabinet doors in the same way as they were first taught, so our bedside cabinet project has proved a useful innovation for us,” said Anselm Fraser, principal.