Chippendale Alumni Blog Archives - Chippendale School of Furniture

Manic table

Good furniture design can simply be about making something that is entirely functional.

Great furniture design is about injecting that extra bit of creativity that turns the ordinary into something absolutely bespoke.

That’s what Matthew McGlone, originally from Manchester but long-time resident of Scotland, has achieved with his elm and stained oak side table.

It was completed after “three weeks of manic work” – and, as far as we’re concerned, it was three weeks well spent!

Matthew has incorporated sinuous and dramatic gaps down each of the side table’s doors.

It’s a design flourish that gives the piece originality and dollops of character. It echoes the design of a table he previously made.

Matthew is someone who has had a long-term fascination with wood. It’s an interest that goes back to a childhood spent bush-crafting in woods, and fashioning spoons from small pieces of wood.

He’s also something of a wordsmith, with a degree in English Literature from the University of St Andrews. He also has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Stirling.

Wild Wood Furniture

He’s planning is to set up his business, Wild Wood Furniture, from incubation space at the school.

These workshop spaces allow graduates to start up for themselves, with full access to the school’s equipment and machinery.

We’ve also recruited Ben Dawson, the internationally-renowned furniture designer and maker, to the school as Design Tutor. He’ll have a supporting role to help our incubation entrepreneurs find their feet.

It’s a level of support unique to the Chippendale school, and our commitment to help alumni as much as we can.

Ben’s career as a furniture designer and maker spans five decades. He’s worked internationally for corporate, public, institutional and private clients.

A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, he won The Andrew Grant Postgraduate Scholarship and The Andrew Grant Travelling Scholarship.

Ben is also a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, Freeman of The City of London, and Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers.

Limited edition Gomo chaise longue hand crafted by Chippendale graduate

It’s an absolutely unique chaise longue. Contemporary, slender and amazingly comfortable. It also represents the very best of British woodworking craftsmanship and high-end Portuguese design.

The Gomo, of which only 36 will be made, costs £6,000 and is crafted from ash and American black walnut. It was recently exhibited at the Scottish Furniture Makers’ Association summer exhibition.

It’s the result of a collaboration between Uchnops™, an international design brand, and Alasdair Easton of Organic Geometry, both based in East Lothian, near Edinburgh.

Alasdair is a graduate of the renowned Chippendale International School of Furniture, and his company is still based at the school – which offers its students workshop space to develop their businesses after graduation.

Alasdair is a Scottish Furniture Makers’ Association award winner, whose work has been exhibited across the UK, including the London Design Festival, Clerkenwell Design Week, and SFMA exhibitions in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Uchnops™ is a new design brand, initially specialising in house-wares and furniture, but which intends to grow into a complete high-end product design brand with an international clientele.

“The Gomo is beautifully crafted and is being made in very limited numbers. It will find a ready market among discerning collectors of modern furniture worldwide,” said Alasdair. The Gomo chaise longue is available from www.uchnops.co.uk .

Gomo in Portuguese means “segment” – as in a segment of orange, and reflects the shape of the chaise longue.

Contact details for Alasdair Easton: 07763 126 765 or Alasdair@organicgeometry.co.uk

How to set up a bespoke furniture design business

Garry Macfarlane, originally from south-west Scotland, founded Freckle Furniture when he graduated from the Chippendale International School of Furniture in East Lothian outside Edinburgh. His fledgling bespoke furniture design business moved to new expanded premises nearby at Fenton Barns after spending two years in the Chippendale Incubator workshops adjoining the furniture design school.

Since 1985, the Chippendale International School of Furniture has been running one of the UK’s leading intensive furniture design and furniture restoration courses. Many of the furniture school’s graduates take advantage of the low costs and support provided by the Chippendale Incubator Workshops for a year or more.

Turkey Shed to Workshop

A cabinet making entrepreneur, Garry Macfarlane, describes his new furniture design workshop: “It was originally a turkey shed for the Fenton Barns turkey farm. It then became a blacksmith’s workshop. When we moved in it was just a big space but we could see the potential. It was a bit of a leap of faith but it has been worth all the effort.”

Former turkey shed transformed into a furniture making workshop with separate machine rooms

Working with a fellow Chippendale graduate to create the workshop and share the costs, Garry has created extensive professional facilities including a fully fitted machine room, sanding room and kitchen, as well as a large workshop.

Getting the Furniture Business Started

Garry continues with his story: “Starting out was very tough and the first two years were a struggle. But all the hard work is starting to pay off and I am now incredibly busy which meant that I had to move to bigger premises. I’ve now completed two kitchens in London, a smaller job in Chelsea and a full kitchen near Clapham.

“The latter commission, which came through a Scottish connection, was for a Victorian terraced house with a large, open plan kitchen extension out the back. Working with the architect and the customer we came up with a great design solution. The kitchen was made from solid Scottish oak and the doors and framework painted with Farrow and Ball colours. The finished result looked stunning and the customer was very pleased.”

Varied Commissions – Bookcases, Desks… and a Human Foot!

“In Edinburgh I’ve made lots of bookcases and desks, mostly in oak which is popular. People like commissioning TV Cabinets too. I’ve also been asked to do some more unusual things such as display stands for mobile phones in an app developer’s office.

“I made a model of a foot for the BBC programme ‘Dissected, the Incredible Human Foot’ on BBC4. The programme was pretty gory though – I had to turn it off!”

“At the moment I’m working on a pedestal style desk in American black walnut with burr walnut and rosewood detailing. It is for another Scottish connection in London. Then I’ll be starting on a kitchen table for someone in the Borders using Sycamore.”

Early Challenges – Learning Clients’ Needs

Setting up a new business brings many challenges, not least learning the needs and demands of customers: “Some clients know exactly what they want; others need taken through the commissioning process step by step,” say Garry.

“I’ve got more confident with pricing, costs and timings over the last 3 or 4 years. With repetition and experience, I’m doing the work a lot quicker. I’ve also invested in good quality machines which allow me to produce things quickly and accurately. Everything in here is handmade though, nothing is computer controlled.”

Marketing as Well as Woodwork

Marketing is of course a very important area for any new business: “I work hard on my marketing. I get new commissions from a range of sources including the internet and repeat business, but more and more is by word-of-mouth. Generating the work was difficult initially but now I’ve got so much that I’m thinking of taking someone on to help me – I’ve got several months of work in the pipeline. Hopefully I can get in to a position of having 2 or 3 people in the workshop with me.”

All this is a far cry from Garry’s previous job before he went to the Chippendale Furniture School: “Previously I worked for Ryden, the Chartered Surveyors, and was sitting behind a desk all day in Glasgow. I was in commercial property investment but that was hit hard by the recession and I moved into property management when the market dried up. It just wasn’t really for me and I wanted to do something different.

“Making bespoke furniture is much more rewarding, more creative and there’s less paper pushing. I don’t clock watch anymore because I’m enjoying my work. I’m my own boss and I can manage my own time. I’ve no regrets about the move even though it hasn’t always been easy.

“My advice to other furniture making start-ups is:

1.   Be prepared not to earn any money for a while.
2.   Work hard on the marketing side. It takes a while to pull in the work and service it.
3.   You can make money in the first couple of years but living off it is tough. You’re too slow and you’re still learning so much.

Never Stop Learning

“The Chippendale School of Furniture course was a really good introduction to all aspects of furniture design and making, but the journey continued after I left. There’s a cliché that you never stop learning but in woodwork it is certainly true.”

Freckle Furniture designs and makes hand crafted, bespoke furniture and kitchens to commission with exceptional design, enduring craftsmanship and superior quality. Garry’s ambition is to make commissioning exciting and engaging, and he encourages customers to visit the workshop to see their bespoke furniture being made.

Freckle Furniture’s work has recently been acknowledged by renowned Danish design company Bo Concept as one of their ‘Ones to Watch’ awards for 2014.

More information is available from the Freckle Furniture website.

Woodworms evicted from Swiss chalet

This blog is written by Ewan Ogilvie, a recent graduate from the Chippendale International School of Furniture.

I was delighted to receive an invitation from the school principal, Anselm Fraser, to join a small party heading out to Switzerland to help restore an abandoned log chalet.

On arrival at 1100m above sea level at the village of Val D’Illiez,our enthusiasm was immediately whetted by the sight of two tonnes of planked timber which was to be used to transform the interior of the chalet. This enthusiasm was dampened slightly when we learned that the only access to the chalet was on a path up a steep slope, under a waterfall and along a narrow ledge. Every tool we were to use and all materials would have to be strapped to our backs and hauled up there. We were assured that the cunning omission of this information prior to our departure had been purely accidental.

However, our first sight of the chalet changed everything; the building was absolutely stunning, and in an idyllic setting with a view down the valley to one side and to a waterfall on the other. We couldn’t wait to get started.

Former Chippendale School student’s experience of making a pitch pine balustrade for an Adam church

This is a blog by Stuart Clachan of Clachan Wood in Ayrshire who designs and makes bespoke handmade furniture as well as doing furniture restorations.

Stuart was a Chippendale School student in 2009 and came 2nd in the ‘Triton Woodworker of the year 2011’ competition (sponsored by GMC Publication’s Furniture and Cabinetmaking magazine).

It’s not every day you are asked to submit a design proposal for an ‘A’ listed building, Kirkoswald Church, that is the only Church in Scotland Robert Adam worked on. The brief was to design, make and fit a balustrade for the steps leading up to the pulpit and round a wee landing. As soon as I saw the pulpit I realised that a simple hand rail would not do the pulpit or the church any justice at all.

So, I proposed what I thought was a good solution picking up on the existing moulding and turning details without thinking too much about how it would be made. It was a strange situation as the steps leading to the pulpit had never had a hand rail – much to the surprise of building control.

The decision to add it meant a lot of details would have to be considered in order to get the hand rail height and newel post design to look correct with regard to the existing work; as I would find out later.