During London Design Festival 2022, GRAS presents The Gathering Hand—the first collection of furniture and objects made in collaboration with leading UK makers. Three product typologies emerge from tactile and evocative materials through a combination of traditional and contemporary techniques including bespoke joinery, mouth-blown glass and bead-blasted stone. The processes celebrate the artisanal skills of specialist collaborators—Studio Corkinho, Namon Gaston and Edmond Byrne—resulting in a series of sensory yet functional tables, vessels and objects.

HRBR is a custom designed and built retail display installed in the reception of the Custom Lane gallery space and café in Leith. The project’s title references its setting in Edinburgh’s historic harbour district.

A modular approach, based on the multiplication of standard cabinet sizes, allows for easy reconfiguration of the display units. A system of movable shelves and trays creates a continuous play of transparency, while the solidity and geometry of the oak storage brings structural stability and visual balance to the freestanding object. Reflective, satin-brass frames contrast beautifully with the matte, naturally ebonised oak, helping to emphasise HRBR’s timeless, minimal aesthetic.

HRBR was developed and fabricated in collaboration with Edinburgh-based maker and designer, Daniel Brophy. It showcases a curated programme of products, artworks and exhibits produced by partners including retailers, designers and makers working in a variety of media.

A single cord or rope is passed through tubes of varying lengths, cut and arranged to create a triangulated shape, and is pulled tight so that the cord is acting in tension and the tubes are compressed.
The route through the tubes is planned so that it can be accomplished in one pass without doubling back and is then used to lash a surface to the frame. We refer to them as ‘Himmeli inspired tubular structures.’

Designed in collaboration with Architect, Nicholas Groves-Raines, this structure, which serves as a composting area and garden store, is an organic extension of the garden and the woven edging to the paths from which it springs. Its origins are derived from basket weave or hazel hurdles using woven rebar and corten steel. The organic form embraces a 5 ton boulder on the site and is located at the furthest corner of the garden, providing a point of interest for garden visitors and for walkers on the adjacent Water of Leith Walkway.

Photographs copyright of Dan Farrar