The Design Studio
Your story, turned into a piece
Tell the concierge what you love: the series you reread, the team you follow, the place you call home. Your design brief fills in as you talk: the material, the colours, the finish. Then it goes to William.
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The materials
Wood, resin, or something rarer
Any theme can be made: a timber from home, resin mixed to any colour, the two cast together, or one of the unusual materials William works with.
Wood
A timber with a story
Burls, exotic hardwoods and traditional woods from the place you call home.
Resin
Any colour you can name
Hand-poured and mixed to your palette, from team colours to the colours of a favourite story.
Wood and resin
Both at once
Natural burl cast in coloured resin, so the wood and the colour flow together.
- Fordite: Decades of car-factory paint layers, cut to show rings of colour
- Meteorite inlay: Gibeon or Muonionalusta iron set as a band or inlay
- Ancient kauri: Swamp kauri from New Zealand, about 45,000 years old
- Mokume-gane: Japanese layered-metal bands with a wood-grain pattern
- Bog oak (morta): Oak preserved for thousands of years in peat bogs
- Cholla cactus: The lattice skeleton of a desert cactus, cast in resin
- Pinecone: Sliced and cast in resin to show its spiral
- Abalone and mother-of-pearl: Shell inlay that shifts colour in the light
- Inlay stone: Reconstituted turquoise, lapis and other stone
- Heirloom timber: Wood from a family home, a fallen tree or old furniture
Wood from home
A timber for where you are from
Many places have a wood of their own. William confirms the sourcing for every one before he quotes.
- Black walnut: Midwest, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, the eastern US
- Birdseye maple: New England, Vermont, Michigan, Canada
- Sugar maple: New England, Vermont, New York, Canada
- Black cherry: Pennsylvania, Appalachia, Virginia
- Box elder burl: the Midwest and the Plains
- Buckeye burl: California, Ohio (the Buckeye State)
- Redwood lace burl: Northern California
- Bigleaf maple burl: Oregon, Washington, the Pacific Northwest
- Oregon myrtlewood: Southern Oregon coast
- Florida live oak: Florida, Georgia, the Gulf Coast
- Pecky cypress: Florida swamps, Louisiana bayous
- Florida mango: South Florida, Hawaii
- Australian pine (salvaged invasive): Southwest Florida
- Heart pine: Georgia, the Carolinas, the old South
- Pecan: Texas, Georgia, the South
- Mesquite: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, the Southwest
- Desert ironwood: Arizona, the Sonoran Desert
- Osage orange: Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, the Plains
- Bourbon barrel white oak: Kentucky, Tennessee
- Whisky barrel oak: Scotland
- Bog oak (morta): Ireland, Britain, Northern Europe
- Olive wood: Italy, Greece, Spain, Israel, the Mediterranean
- Thuya burl: Morocco
- Hawaiian koa: Hawaii
- Ancient kauri: New Zealand (about 45,000 years old)
- Jarrah burl: Western Australia
- Amboyna burl: Southeast Asia
- Bocote: Mexico, Central America
- Ziricote: Belize, Guatemala, Mexico
- Purpleheart: Brazil, Guyana, South America
- Padauk: West and Central Africa
- African blackwood: East Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique
- Ebony: Africa, India, Sri Lanka
- Zebrawood: West Africa
Questions
Good questions, honest answers
What is a design brief?
It is everything William needs to design your piece: who it is for, what they love, the form, the material, the colours and the finish. He reads it himself and replies with a design proposal. Real wood and hand-poured resin are one of a kind, so he shows you the actual blank before he turns it.
What unique materials can you use?
Beyond wood and resin, William works with Fordite, meteorite inlay, ancient kauri, mokume-gane bands, bog oak, cholla cactus, pinecone, abalone and mother-of-pearl, inlay stone, and your own heirloom timber.
Can you match the colours of my team, school or favourite story?
Yes. Resin can be mixed to almost any palette, and contrasting woods can be set in as rings. Pieces are inspired by colours and themes; William does not reproduce logos, crests or trademarks.
Can my piece use wood from where I am from?
Often, yes. Many regions have a traditional timber, from Kentucky bourbon-barrel oak to Hawaiian koa or Irish bog oak. William confirms he can source it legally and soundly before he quotes.
What happens after I send my design?
William reads it himself, replies personally, and proposes the final design and a quote. Nothing is charged until you approve the design.
Commissions
Begin a commission
Tell William who it is for, what they love, and what you have in mind. He reads every brief himself and replies personally.
Prefer to talk it through?