bethan laura wood, max lamb and andu masebo rethink the material language of home

ALTERNATIVE MATERIAL LANGUAGES AT HOME

How can material innovation and unexpected forms bring joy to the homes we inhabit every day? Three London-based designers are rethinking materials from radical new perspectives and exploring how the idea of home is shaped by community and the act of making. In rejection of uniformity, the home of today becomes a vehicle for pleasure, personality and creative liberation. From ceramic dining chairs to a sofa woven from nautical rope, familiar materials are recontextualized in new forms as the spirit of unpredictability reigns supreme. Embracing experimentation and the element of surprise, these alternative material languages evoke a sense of carefree abandon.

Bethan Laura Wood’s ‘Extra Trimmings’ explores ornament through braided rope | image: courtesy of Shore Studios

BETHAN LAURA WOOD WEAVES ORNAMENT INTO STRUCTURE

Take the humble sofa. At the center of every living space, it’s become a symbol for comfort, connection and community. Designer Bethan Laura Wood brings new meaning to the sofa in “Extra Trimmings”, a collaboration with Shore Studios, featuring woven lounge chairs, settees and stools made with nautical braided rope. Taking its cue from the exuberance of 1970s interiors, where color, pattern and texture collided, the seating collection combines Wood’s technicolor approach and Shore’s structural weaving. Ruffles, scallops and loops are sculpted in braided rope and hand-knotted silicone, creating a new kind of upholstery, both tactile and architectural.

In “Extra Trimmings”, ornament is no longer simply decoration; it is woven into the structure, texture and narrative. Vibrant color and pattern come together in a rejection of all things beige, in favor of a more generous vision of home: more playful, more human and unapologetically personal.

Bethan Laura Wood seated on her ‘extra trimmings’ creation

DB: What can material expression and ornament bring to domestic life beyond aesthetics?

Bethan: It can tell a story that connect you with the past and memories. It can create comfort and pleasure; it can give function and information.

DB: What is the most unconventional object in your own home?

Bethan: Haha, too many to mention! I collect many things from my travels and the cities I visit, from tiny two-tone cracker whistles in the shape of clarinets to beautifully woven straw rain coats from Japan. Vases by Jochen Holz in the shape of psychedelic root vegetables to name only a few. I love creating compositions of these objects together to connect different colours textiles and patterns together.

Bethan Laura Wood working on her ‘extra trimmings’ creation

MAX LAMB PUSHES CERAMIC BEYOND TABLEWARE

Master of unconventional materials, designer Max Lamb’s latest collection, “Crockery”, rethinks the familiar notion of ceramic, being a fragile and delicate material, with a series of chairs crafted from stoneware. The designer collaborated with 1882 Ltd, a ceramics manufacturer based in England’s historic pottery region of Stoke-on-Trent, to develop a collection of dining chairs made entirely of clay. Here, earthenware moves beyond the realms of tableware and into furniture, supporting the presence of the human body.

“Crockery” is a collective undertaking, with 23 potters involved in the production of each chair, every stage of the meticulous process requires a fine balance of specialist knowledge and collaboration. From preparing and releasing the molds to drying and firing, the process is shared across a community of makers. This ethos of collective production is central to Lamb’s work, as material experimentation thrives under the culture of making. The resulting chairs occupy a space between sculpture and furniture, bringing craft into the domestic environment in unexpected forms. Lamb’s chairs celebrate not only the possibilities of ceramic, but the people, processes and shared knowledge involved in the production of design. 

Max Lamb’s ‘Crockery’ collection transforms stoneware into sculptural seating | image: courtesy of Gallery Fumi

ANDU MASEBO BRINGS AUTOMOTIVE MATERIALS INDOORS

Meanwhile, Andu Masebo’s Tubular Chair begins with another act of reappropriation: materials normally found on a car are reimagined in the context of the home. Sourced from London’s mechanic and exhaust workshops, stainless steel tubes normally used for car exhaust systems are transformed into chairs with voluptuous, curving frames, while recycled chip rubber becomes a soft, tactile seat.

Working closely with exhaust manufacturers, Masebo adapted the limitations of their machinery into an opportunity for invention, bending and joining two sections of tube to create the chair’s distinctive silhouette. The finished seat embraces its industrial origins, down to the deliberately exposed welded joins, which are celebrated rather than concealed.

Andu Masebo reimagines automotive materials through his Tubular Chair

LEAVING DOMESTIC CONVENTION AT THE DOOR

Across the distinct work of each designer, there is a shared refusal to follow the prescribed language of domestic furniture. Materials are recontextualized and familiar forms are disrupted in objects that question our assumptions about what the home should be made from. There is a sense of liberation to be found in approaching the home as a place for experimentation, humor and surprise. In this version of domesticity, convention can be left at the door.

Andu Masebo’s design combines stainless steel exhaust tubing with recycled chip rubber | image: Yeshen Venema

Bethan Laura Wood brings a playful material language to contemporary furniture

project info:

names: extra trimmings, crockery, tubular chair

designers: bethan laura wood, max lamb, andu masebo
location: london, UK / stoke-on-trent, UK
text: Jennifer Ring at Form & Trace | @formandtrace