South London-based furniture brand Jan Hendzel Studio has launched its first-ever full collection, Bowater, as part of the London Design Festival and Peckham Design Trail.

The collection comprises of nine pieces, from a chest of drawers and sideboard to a series of desk trays and decorative sculptural objects. Each piece is a celebration of British craftsmanship and natural homegrown materials.

Bowater is made exclusively with British timbers and is a study into the untapped range and variety of timbers present in the UK’s woodlands. In addition to Olive ash and the less fashionable Sycamore, the studio has also experimented to coin the term ‘Baked’ Ash and ‘Baked’ Sycamore, a new material process using Thermo modification – a chemically-free heating procedure the timbers undergo, resulting in a new durable material.

The studio reimagines the typical outdoor use of these materials – such as architectural cladding and decking – by exploiting the dimensional stability and incredible spectrum of colours that range from burnt umber to black walnut.

A signature ripple is a playful detail that runs along the surfaces of many components and emboldens the pieces with humour. Here, texture becomes functional, allowing objects to fit together snugly and forms an in-built modularity to the range. By marrying digital processes and traditional hand-tooling, the range underpins the studio’s philosophy of embracing both methods as a way to push boundaries.

The Bowater Chest of Drawers is a 4-drawer tiered unit, made from solid timber. The top drawer hides a rippled liner which fits the specially designed trays to help organise accessories.

The Media unit is a solid wood carcass with dovetail joinery and has baked Ash rippled sliding doors with hand turned handles. The piece features two adjustable shelves and integrated cable access. Like many of the other pieces, the media cabinet, uses illuminating joinery details that offer a glimpse into its fabrication.

Not only is the collection deeply rooted in London making and British manufacturing, some items take their names from local landmarks. The Cable Shop Stool takes its name from Woolwich’s Cable Shop warehouse with its profile being inspired by the chamfered piers of the 1937 shop.

The collection has been designed together in order to optimise the wastage produced. Smaller offcuts are used to create a range of accessories that support the function of larger pieces or work simply as decorative objects, as see with the Bowater Desk Tidies and Trays. These are designed to fit within the signature ripple detail and vary in shapes and sizes. The tidies and trays work across the desk, chest of drawers and side table and are designed to work functionally as well as stand-alone decorative objects.

www.janhendzel.com