As part of their ‘Intelligent Making’ module, 50 second-year students of Kingston’s Product & Furniture Design course were presented with offcut low-grade cherry and invited to create new design forms. The result is an extraordinary collection of furniture and objects that offer fresh, practical and creative perspectives on an overlooked material. From stools and shelving to benches and even a playground see-saw, the body of work produced showcases both the versatility of cherry and the visionary talent of the emerging design generation.

25 of the students’ projects were available to view at the exhibition ‘Future Laboratory’ at BDP throughout Clerkenwell Design Week. Below are a selection of these pieces.

Trestlex by Carissa Yau

Minimalist X-shaped trestle legs that can be combined with any flat surface to create a table.

See Saw by Lexie Aston and Ned Mccauley

A children’s seesaw that uses key structural principles to create strength along the frame. 

Crate by Joshua Watson

A multifunctional stool for anywhere in the home, providing easy storage for books and magazines.

G A P _ S T O O L by Karola Nagy

A stool to sit down in between two tasks or to step up on.

X Line by Franziska Nowottny

A shelf kept together by three diagonals arranged in an X shape to display books and other things in order of size.

Tristability Chair by Zixi Dang & Zhiru Niu

Lightweight, comfortable seats inspired by triangulation and stability.

Chair by Dylan Roles

A chair focusing on using the minimum materials for the maximum strength.

Perching Stools - T Stool - 45 Stool by Paayal Patel

Two stools that use a minimum of materials to achieve maximum structure.  

Perch by Kitty Hiscox & Carys Williams

An unconventional stool that affords multiple seating positions.

Sandwich chair by Kaspar Hiscock

A chair that derives its structure from the principle of a sandwich.

A-Bench by Cile Jeekel

A-frame bench using minimal material.