A Crack Design Squad

A crack design squad tackle wish-list commissions at Benchmark.

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As we arrive at Benchmark Furniture’s Berkshire HQ, we interrupt a breakaway interrogation of a troublesome hinge – part of an elegant design for a portable lectern drawn up by Raw-Edges’ Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay for Iwona Blazwick, director of the Whitechapel Gallery. This is just one of ten pieces that form the Legacy project, the latest collaboration between Benchmark and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC). Instigated by the leading British designer John Sorrell, it sees London-based cultural figures each commission an established design studio to produce a ‘legacy’ piece (either personal or for their respective institution). The final designs will be made from American red oak and shown at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in September, during the London Design Festival.

But first, the issue of that hinge. As members of the Benchmark team – including co-founder Sean Sutcliffe– discuss the problem with Raw-Edges, another featured designer, Sebastian Cox, walks past. Putting secrecy and rivalry aside, he is swept up in the conversation.

‘That was nice, how he became part of the scenario,’ Mer comments afterwards. ‘It’s very much a makers’ attitude here, which we can relate to,’ adds Alkalay.

Problem solved, each heads back to their separate section of the workshop, which is buzzing with a focused but convivial atmosphere.