Part 1
You won’t find a flat-pack in this feature, I can assure you. The Southern Highlands is home to some of Australia’s best furniture designers and makers and in this two-part series, four locals will find themselves and their sensational work in the spotlight.
Maybe it’s the beautiful environment, the like-minded creatives or perhaps it has something to do with the highly regarded Sturt School for Wood being located in Mittagong? Whatever the reason, we are certainly lucky to have some of the finest furniture at our finger tips.
Factor Design
Designer & maker: Ian Factor
After a 25 year career in architectural design & building, Ian made the shift to furniture design and making after graduating from the Sturt School for Wood in 2006.
“As a designer and builder of approximately 50 houses I was keen to translate my design and making skills into furniture design as well as learn the craft of fine woodworking,” Ian said.
Ian and his wife Helen, a mosaic artist, decided to make Mittagong their home 13 years ago after raising a family in Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
“We love the soft beauty of the Southern Highlands and greatly appreciate the vibrant art community.”
Factor Design pieces are contemporary in style and Ian admits to being obsessive about details, the natural beauty of the timber and creating the perfect proportions in the finished piece. He only uses materials that come from certified sustainable sources and every design is brought to life through hand-crafted processes that make the pieces heirloom quality.
“My clients comment that they can spot a Factor Design piece as I have a distinctly unique style.’ Ian said.
Factor Design pieces feature solid timber, timber veneer or birch plywood and colour highlights are injected into some of the furniture with laminate.
Ian is currently in the process of designing a new range of dining chairs, so his creative juices are flowing and he is excited about the coming year which promises to be full of distinctive designs and meticulous making.
Find Factor Design
A selection of Ian’s work can be viewed at his home studio in Mittagong by appointment.
Fitch Fine Furniture
Designer & maker: Torquil Charles Jonathan Fitch
For as long as he can remember, Torquil has been fascinated with antique furniture. The level of expertise and workmanship that was put into creating each piece appealed to him as a thing of beauty, but also as something that should be treasured and respected.
“My approach to furniture design and manufacture is ‘build it well and make it last’. I hate the disposable nature of our world,” Torquil said.
Having previously worked on superyachts in the Mediterranean, after graduating from the Sturt School for Wood in 2011, he started to seriously pursue a career in furniture design and manufacture.
His devotion to detail in his Modern Georgian style pieces is clearly evident. Rosewood, American White Oak, European Oak, marble and some resins make an appearance in the designs of this Moss Vale local.
“Most of the furniture I make starts off as large, roughly sawn, and very dusty slabs of wood, and it is almost impossible to see what may lurk beneath the rough exterior. But bit by bit, with many hours of work and care, the piece of furniture I have in mind begins to emerge from the wood and takes on a life of its own,” he said.
Torquil works on a commission basis and has made pieces from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. He has plenty of projects ‘on the go’ and his focus is on continuing to keep up with demand, whilst maintaining the hand-crafted, exceptional quality of his pieces.
“Creating a piece of furniture by hand is about creating a legacy for future generations,” he said.
Find Fitch Fine Furniture
Warning: you may now find yourself grabbing for a tape measure to work out where you can fit one of these amazing pieces of furniture in your home or office.
Stay tuned for part two of The Fold’s ‘movers & makers: furniture’ feature when two more amazing local talents will find themselves in the spotlight.
Are you a local designer and maker? We’d love to hear from you! Email us: hello@thefoldmedia.com.au
