Kevin Gauld

Kevin Gauld is a furniture maker based on the Scottish islands of Orkney, making traditional and contemporary furniture including the historic Orkney chair. Unique to the Orkney islands, the chair is a classic example of product design responding to the its local surroundings. Having refined the technique of Orkney chair making, Kevin Gauld now runs his own workshop, collaborating with designer Gareth Neal on the ‘Brodgar Series’, an exclusive and celebrated modern interpretation of the Orkney chair.

Maker's Story

Kevin Gauld is a furniture maker based on the Scottish islands of Orkney, making traditional and contemporary furniture including the historic Orkney chair. Unique to the Orkney islands, the chair is a classic example of product design responding to its local surroundings. Having refined the technique of Orkney chair making, Kevin Gauld now runs his own workshop, collaborating with designer Gareth Neal on the Brodgar Series, an exclusive and celebrated modern interpretation of the Orkney chair.

Maker's Quote

The Brodgar Chair was the first original piece we commissioned for The New Craftsmen, and remains one of our best selling pieces of furniture. Makers like Kevin – young, talented and passionate about preserving dying skills – are why we founded The New Craftsmen.

Catherine LockCo-founder and Creative Director

The Process

Coming from a family of Scottish woodworkers, heritage and provenance are key to Kevin’s furniture. He uses only the best quality materials, growing his own oats on his family farm (just as early chair makers on the island did) to create the woven straw backs on his own Orkney Chairs. Kevin served a very traditional apprenticeship to learn these skills, but is not a strict traditionalist. He believes that craft should not stand still. It's this approach, of adapting and developing for the times that we live in, which has ensured his place in the contempory craft world.