Julius Schmalbach from Hamburg in Germany is the youngest student on this year’s professional course.

He joined us straight from school and, when he leaves in the summer, will start a new course studying architecture.

It’s something he’s naturally suited for having just completed a beautifully-designed ash chair with a woven cane back.

It’s finely proportioned and exceptionally well crafted, with steam bent and laminated legs in a sinuous and flowing design.

The chair was entirely his own design, and was developed from a mock-up he took four weeks to make at the start of the course.

Most students wouldn’t have started with so ambitious a project, and it’s a credit to Julius that he has the confidence, and has quickly acquired the skills, to accomplish such a complex piece.

He’s also made a small bench made out of oak, which took him four days, and is currently finishing a lovely cherry veneered writing escritoire.

Not one to waste his time with us, he’s also planning to make a medicine cabinet, complete with fretwork and mirror, and a small coffee table before the end of the course next month!

The professional course will have given Julius valuable skills to take into his architecture studies, and he has the natural design talent to make a real success of it.