New Ventures for LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2016 at Bill Amberg Studio

On Thursday 22nd September, we opened up our doors and invited our clients, customers and local businesses to come and explore the inner workings of the Bill Amberg Studio as part of London Design Festival.

New workshop, showroom space

Here at the Bill Amberg Studio, we believe that making should be central to the studio’s activities in a very literal sense. This year for London Design Festival, we welcomed visitors to a new 650 sq ft ground floor workshop and showroom space. With a progressively expanding portfolio of interior projects, furniture pieces, and products, the new showroom and workshop space is a vital hub for inspiration and ideas.

The Commons Collection – Introducing the new Common Bar stool and Common Coffee table

Combining CNC technology, traditional saddlery skills and hand stitch detailing, we launched our first seating range, the Commons Collection, during London Design Festival 2015. For 2016, we present two new additions to the range; a bar stool and a coffee table. These new versions have been designed especially for contract interior application.

The Commons Collection arose from the need for modern leather furniture that would be ideal in a home kitchen, coffee shop, a hotel lobby or workplace. Combining traditional leathercraft techniques with CNC, the first collection of stools and a bench employs simple craft techniques to create a robust yet lightweight seating range.

The new Commons Bar stool and Commons Coffee table, features a lightly padded English bridle leather top. The edges have been turned and trapped, creating a soft edge detail and comes with a lacquered base and solid oak legs. This variation from the hand-stitched collection adds a new functionality to this group and their application in a variety of settings.

The Commons Collection highlights the Studio’s ongoing experiments in the creative application of leather; a modern, organically contoured family of furniture that will complement a home kitchen and workspaces alike.

Alchemy – experimental series of concrete-leather panels

Continually using leather in innovative and unconventional ways, the Bill Amberg Studio presents a series of panels that explore the unique qualities of two highly varying materials: leather and concrete. With the use of a range of vegetable tanned leather, brass and metal details, we created six small panels and two larger panels. The panels also see the use of a third material; brass.

The combination of these materials results in an intriguing combination of textures and grains. Adding a new dimension to the character of each, the Alchemy panels question the traditional use of all three materials.

Leather has defined the work of the Bill Amberg Studio for over 30 years, encompassing everything from floors, walls and furniture to saddles and bags. For London Design Festival 2016, we push the status quo and take the luxury of leather and juxtapose it with industrial concrete to create the Alchemy series of panels. This series is an exploration of using a concrete leather surface for applications in the future.

To arrange a visit to our Queens Park studio, please contact us at: info@billambergstudio.com.