Author: Susanna Beaumont

Cultural histories of ornament and decoration frequently inspire Frances Priest’s collections of coloured ceramic objects. Combining a studio-based practice with site-specific projects, residencies and commissions, Priest’s work is rooted in an investigation of both place and its surrounding community of people.  For Design Exhibition Scotland, Priest has recreated a section of The Tiled Corridor.  The Tiled Corridor was commissioned by Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundation in 2016 for The Royal Edinburgh Hospital. The ELHF aims to improve the physical and mental well-being […]

Arrange Whatever Pieces Come Your Way was established in 2016 by Sheelagh Boyce and Annabelle Harty. Whilst taking inspiration from traditional American and Japanese quilt making, Boyce and Harty’s work is largely informed by the landscape and the built environment they travel in and through; and their shared knowledge of architecture, art, food and fashion.  The pieces of fabric they assemble to create […]

For 2019, Design Exhibition Scotland has commissioned three prototype drinking fountains. Once a common sight in Britain’s towns and cities – many were manufactured by Walter Macfarlane Ltd at the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow – they were beautifully crafted, a generous and civic celebration of free and clean drinking water. Design Exhibition Scotland wishes to revive the drinking fountain for our […]

This small table is inspired by Gordon Webster, an early 20th century stained glass artist. Webster made a similar small table with wood taken in exchange for stained glass work. It sat in Webster’s drawing room with a gramophone on top and a collection of classical records stored beneath.   The new table is a homage to […]

Twilight is a new series of illuminated suspended sculptures by Andrew Miller. Comprising numerous angled pieces of frosted Perspex, they grew out of a series of pen and ink drawings and Miller’s interest in sculptured forms in space.   Andrew Miller’s also shows a new light work entitled Piece. It takes the form of an irregular hexagonal shape, similar to one of the […]

Room for Irregularities is c.a.walac’s first furniture collection. Comprising a series of functional sculptural objects made in hand blackened steel, their forms are inspired by the contours of lochs and the landscape of the Scottish Highlands.  Mirror was informed in particular by a night-time drive taken by walac in Loch Lomond and seeing the reflection of a full moon on still dark water. Glasgow’s industrial past and the geometry of steel structures have also given impetus to walac’s work and an interest in how these two very different landscapes can […]

With contemporary society’s growing addiction to ‘sharing’ images, opinions and tirades through the digital world of social media, Ivett considers what it means to create an actual physical space from which we can share, with care and in person. Confessional speculates on a space where everyone has the right to be heard along with the obligation to listen. This model starts a process of exploration into what form, […]

RR201 is the result of an innovative project commissioned by El Celler de Can Roca, a world-celebrated restaurant in Girona, Catalonia. Roca Recicla, (Roca Recycles) is their ambitious project to become a zero-waste restaurant with the slogan Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle.   Every day El Celler de Can Roca receives 6 boxes of fresh fish, delivered in white polystyrene boxes. On considering how these transportation boxes, which are notoriously difficult to recycle, could be reused, […]

The trestle table, a long-time furniture staple, has been reinvigorated by Mirrl. Their new trestle table champions durability and versatility. Double-sided, it features two different Mirrl colourways, enabling it to be flipped to both afford different uses and change the mood of any room. It is collapsible, so can be easily dismantled and placed flat against a wall. The trestle legs can be stacked or used for further table tops. The double-sided Mirrl trestle table can be produced in various sizes, heights and colourways.   Mirrl​ is […]

Talking Time is a new collection of handcrafted furniture by Derek Welsh.  Referencing time and the time it takes to craft and to make decisions and revisions about materials, form and function, Welsh sees the collection as a celebration of both perfection and imperfection of the handmade and of time itself.   As a child Welsh remembers seeing his grandfather weaving: the methodical process of weaving the warp and weft and the time it took. Using Danish […]

This is  Claire Barclay  and Laura Spring’s first collaboration. Fuelled by their shared interest in historic Scandinavian craft and design, both have undertaken independent research trips to Sweden and Finland. Recently Spring spent time in Finland researching weaving and tufting techniques that has led to the incorporation of Ryijy, a wool knotting process and design inspired by täkänä processes within their work.   Täkänä is an ancient Finnish weaving technique with the earliest täkänäs being recorded in […]

In 2019, Design Exhibition Scotland commissioned three prototype drinking fountains. Once a common sight in Britain’s towns and cities – many were manufactured by Walter Macfarlane Ltd at the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow and Greyfriars Bobby from the 1870s, in Edinburgh’s Old Town was originally conceived as a drinking fountain for both humans and dogs. These […]

Adam Nathaniel Furman’s practice spans architecture and interiors, sculpture, installation, writing and product design. He explores ideas and possibilities through his studio ‘Productive Exuberance’ at Central St Martins, and the Research Group ‘Saturated Space’ which he runs at the Architectural Association, London. Furman was Designer in Residence at the Design Museum, London between 2013-14, received […]