Our First Major Collaboration

Contemporary Orkney Chair, by Gareth Neal and Kevin Gauld for The New Craftsmen

Visitors to The New Craftsmen’s pop-up shop were able to watch makers Gareth Neal and Kevin Gauld put the finishing touches to their contemporary Orkney Chair – a collaborative initiative between The New Craftsmen, Dalston based furniture maker Gareth Neal, and traditional Orkney chair maker Kevin Gauld.

Having traveled from London to Scotland to work on the design and materials, Gareth Neal used his ability to combine traditional furniture making techniques with the use of cutting edge technology, to give a contemporary twist to this iconic piece of British furniture. In the style of a true collaboration, the formation of the chair came together with the expertise of Kevin Gauld of The Orkney Furniture Company, who has refined the centuries old technique since an apprenticeship at the age of 16, even growing his own oats to create the chair’s straw back.

The traditional Orkney chair is the epitome of resourcefulness, and of design following function; traditionally a low chair, small stumpy legs were fashioned to enable the sitter to work, perhaps knit, from the ground, and a draw was included to house tools. Due to the lack of trees in Orkney, driftwood from the beach was often substituted for wood, and the long straw back was curved to protect the sitter from draughts.

A traditional Orkney chair with hooded back