Union Wood Co, and designer Alyssa Lewis of Studio Block, have collaboratively designed a new line of seating called the Slab Collection.
Using Union Wood Co’s foundation for woodworking and craft, Studio Block has designed a collection that intentionally reduces design details down to the structural form of a chair.
Union Wood Co utilized their established relationships within the design community and reached out to designers around the world, and the first collaboration to be released is the Slab Collection. Studio Block approaches its design work with a minimalist’s eye and a desire to create serene living environments.
“I find there is a lot of visual noise that surrounds us every day, so I like to simplify things in my design work to quiet the world around us,” says Lewis. To apply this philosophy in practice, Lewis has coined the term ‘reduction’ as an artful way of simplifying objects down to their fundamental form.
Craig Pearce, owner and creative director of Union Wood Co, believes that well-made furniture plays a supportive role in spaces by providing the core location for people to gather, work, and play.
The name of the collection comes from the raw material the seats are made from. Each slab of ash toasts the natural attraction that all people have to the beauty of solid wood.
Ash is ideal for the construction of furniture. It is durable and shock-resistant, without being heavy like other hardwoods. Buyers of the collection can select from three finishes: natural, whitewashed, or blackened. Each finish gives the chairs a distinctive character, without distracting from the organic arches and lines of the natural wood grain.
The chairs are coated in a matte commercial grade finish that provides them with a softened appearance, yet ensures that they are strong enough for a variety of living and working environments.
Between the two companies, there was a shared desire to design a seating collection that was simplified down to its core function, while still being furniture that is easily incorporated into people’s everyday lives.