British Industrial Designer David Irwin will present a new outdoor furniture collection as part of the award-winning “Tools for Everyday Life” project at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City this May.
“I wanted to use the theme of this year’s Tools for Everyday Life project, ‘the outdoors’ as a vehicle to explore the potential for different types of wood treatment and manipulation for outdoor use.”
Wood, inherently, is a biodegradable and dimensionally unstable material. These characteristics present problems such as rotting and warping, issues which become increasingly difficult to manage when designing for outdoor environments. The Tanso bench and chair have been designed in a bid to overcome these challenges, through the application of two different timber treatments. The oak bench has been finished using the ancient Japanese technique of charring wood, ‘Shou-Sugi-Ban’ and the chair is made from beech that has been thermally modified, by heating it in an oxygen-free environment. Both treatments improve the timber’s climatic resistence and dimensional stability, to the highest ‘Class 1’ durability (equivalent to Teak)*.
No chemicals or preservatives are used in either process and the results provide an alternative to less-sustainable tropical hardwoods.
*Timber Durability is measured in 5 classes under the EN350 classification system, with each class determining how long each timber will survive outdoors. These range from class 1 – very durable, lasting 25+ years to class 5 – perishable, lasting less than 5 years.
The form of the chairs have developed in relation to the constraints presented by the two treatment processes. Square edges and flush faced joints have been kept to a minimum to help achieve an even charred surface and to prevent too much material from burning away in key areas. The seat and back have been constructed out of long flat boards, easily produced with both techniques. The subtle angles of the flat seat rest provide a suprising comfort whilst also allowing for rainwater runoff.
