Fountain Chair in FT HTSI

We are delighted to see our Fountain Chair featured in the Financial Times HTSI magazine - The Design Issue, Go With The Grain.

The Fountain Chair was designed and made as part of a larger public art commission by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for flexible public seating for The Amelia Scott building which opened in Tunbridge Wells in 2022. The Amelia was a new integrated services facility including library, museum and council services.

The Fountain Chairs were our first design with a complex steam-bent component that form the front legs and backrest. To achieve this triple bend, four makers work in unison hand bending a length of ash over a jig.

Read this journal post for the story of The Amelia public art commission.

Angus has continued evolving this design and a similar component with a triple bend forming the front legs and backrest can be seen in our recent Clova Chairs for Ash Rise exhibition. The Fountain Chair has an ash frame and fumed oak seat. When the naturally occurring tannin in oak is exposed to ammonia the tannin reacts and causes the oak to darken into lovely deep dark chocolate colour. It provides a striking contrast to the lighter coloured ash.