Blue Mountain School presents
GRAS: The Gathering Hand

London Design Festival
17 – 25 September 2022

On the occasion of London Design Festival 2022, Blue Mountain School presents The Gathering Hand by award-winning architecture practice GRAS: A collection of furniture and homewares made in collaboration with leading British makers.

Carpenter’s Tables

Carpenter's Dining Table with Studio Corkinho (Antwerp) & Namon Gaston (Edinburgh), 72.5 × 165 × 165 cm

The coupling of cork and oak, siblings of the Quercus family: these beautifully related materials create a natural balance, while the table forms draw on a sense of simplicity and tradition. Housed tenon joints, carefully detailed by woodworker Namon Gaston, are an ode to texture, tone and craftsmanship. The oak is smoked for 24 hours before assembly and final oiling.

The cork is fired prior to pressing to bring out an earthy brown base. The surface then undergoes a heat treating process, applied by hand, which intensifies the tone and brings out a subtle, characterful texture. Finally, a matte bio-varnish is applied for protection. As daylight passes across the cork’s surface the depth and subtle complexities of the material are unveiled.

Carpenter's Low Table with Studio Corkinho (Antwerp) & Namon Gaston (Edinburgh), 32.5 × 175 × 95 cm

Carpenter's Side Table with Studio Corkinho (Antwerp) & Namon Gaston (Edinburgh), 45 × 55 × 55 cm

Material
Smoked Oak and Hand-Textured Cork

Makers
Studio Corkinho (Antwerp)
Namon Gaston (Edinburgh)

Dimensions
Dining Table: 72.5 × 165 × 165 cm
Low Table: 32.5 × 175 × 95 cm
Side Table: 45 × 55 × 55 cm

Glassblower’s Vessels

Glassblower's Vessels with Edmond Byrne (Cambridge)

Simple, refined vessels soaked in the beauty of hand-making processes. Filled with character and story, each item bears a finish unique unto itself. The hand-blown process creates volumes with subtle asymmetry: perfectly imperfect. While still hot, the blown glass is baptized in cold water, forcing a rapid cooling process which veils the body in a crazed patina.

Glassblower's Vase with Edmond Byrne (Cambridge), 35 × 13 × 13 cm

Glassblower's Carafe with Edmond Byrne (Cambridge), 25 × 9.5 × 9.5 cm

Glassblower's Tumbler with Edmond Byrne (Cambridge), 8 × 8.9 × 8.9 cm

Material
Hand-blown, crazed glass

Maker
Edmond Byrne (Cambridge)

Dimensions
Carafe: 25 × 9.5 × 9.5 cm
Tumbler: 8 × 8.9 × 8.9 cm
Vase: 35 × 13 × 13 cm

Stonemason’s Objects

Stonemason's Bowl with Albion Stone (Dorset), 5.5 × 45 × 45 cm

A family of stone objects: a bowl, vase and weights, each produced in Bead Blasted Portland Whitbed stone for its balance of warmth and texture. The bowl is given a continual, spherical cut providing a subtle dip which will mingle beautifully with passing light. The vase, equally stark in form is a single cylinder with a cored centre; a shadow gap offers a finishing touch to lift the volume up. The weights are almost elemental in form: two cylinders, whose edges have been delicately softened by the sandblasted finishing process.

Stonemason's Vase with Albion Stone (Dorset), 35 × 15 × 15 cm