I wanted to create a strong contrast between black scorched bench area and the seat / bench elements. I had this vision of seeing the first end-on bench that faces up the arcade appearing to float like some kind of throne. The making processes of steam bending and scorching can be seen in our video below.

The bench is made from locally grown oak from the Illchester Estate. The estate woodland is managed by Andrew Poore, who was one of the first to establish FSC certification in UK forest management. Sourcing local materials whenever possible goes back to my Hooke Park College training in 1993/4 (part of John Makepeace’s Parnham Trust). As it happens Andy Poore was the Forestry consultant on that course.

The other aspect of the Tudor Arcade bench project which gives me great pleasure is the combination of using very high-tech CNC manufacturing, combined with the rather low-tech discipline of steam bending. Both were key in the making process along with a great deal of hand craftsmanship. The contrasting finishes of the natural oak chair elements next to the black scorched and scrubbed oak of the curving bench slats is another very distinctive feature of the piece. This is clearly not an ‘off the shelf solution’ and that is something almost everyone recognised as we were installing it and talking to the public.