After studying architecture and working with leading studios in both architecture and interior design, Lucie Reuter turned her focus to furniture. Her practice in London explores modular systems that balance scalability with individuality and craftsmanship. Her work sits in the intersection between industrial production and traditional making; a dialogue that continually informs her approach to design and material use.

Designing for reassembly

For London Design Festival 2025, Reuter presented Designed for Reassembly – a bolt-free self-assembly furniture system and sample collection. The collection reconsiders how self-assembly furniture is perceived, valued, and maintained. Made from solid wood and inspired by the dovetail joint, the pieces convey a sense of craftsmanship while being CNC-machined for precision and requiring no specialist joinery skills to produce.

The system assembles and disassembles quickly without tools, encouraging owners to move and rebuild their furniture multiple times. Without glued joints or threaded inserts, each component can be easily separated at the end of its life, allowing materials to be recycled responsibly. During transport, the design’s compactness reduces packaging and lowers carbon emissions compared with conventional glued furniture.

Reuter selected hard maple for most of the collection, appreciating its tight, fine grain, warm natural tone, and reliable machining qualities – attributes that make it ideal for precision-cut joinery. Reuter also turned to ash, chosen for its strength and ability to take stains evenly, offering subtle tonal variation within the series.

Fasteners are made using recycled aluminium, reflecting the project’s circular-design ethos. Aluminium’s capacity to be continually remade complements the renewable nature of the hardwoods, ensuring every material in the system supports the same goal: long-term usability and minimal waste.

Her work celebrates natural materiality while meeting modern expectations of efficiency and sustainability. Designed for Reassembly, demonstrates that good design should be adaptable, repairable, and enduring – made to be rebuilt again and again.