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A story chair
Tuesday, 1st February 2011 22:54 PM
A few weeks ago we were approached by a junior school in Baildon asking us if we could make them a story chair. This was to commemorate a teacher who died suddenly last year. It was evident that this teacher was quite a special person, loved by both staff and children, so we are pleased to take part in the project. The idea is that a teacher will sit in the chair to read stories to the children. It's good to know that teachers still read to the children in school, it's not all cramming for SATs.
The brief for the chair has caused us some head scratching. The children were asked what they think was important to their late teacher and they came up with mountains, she was an outdoors enthusiast, hockey and cats. These are elements that we should include in the design of the chair. The budget for the project was adequate but did not allow too greater flights of fancy!
The first design we came up with used hockey stick shapes for the front legs, possibly with cats paw feet. The upholstered back would feature a hill profile to the top rails and a carved cat would be looking over the reader's shoulder. However when we priced this up we felt that it was too expensive, and perhaps the hills were not mountainous enough.
The second attempt was nearer the mark, David applied his keen eye for economy! The curved back is now laminated with a mountainous profile to the top, with snow capped peaks. The hockey sticks now form the arms, the front legs being simply turned. The seat rail arrangement has been simplified to fit below the upholstered seat. A carved or marquetry cat design will be applied to the back. This design is within the budget so we are developing presentation drawings to show to the school.
We are quite enthused by this project. It would be good to get the children involved, perhaps they could come to the workshop to see some of the making process. I think they might like to see the laminating of the back using a vacuum bag, I always think it's magic every time we do it! However I am sure there are rules which may preclude this.
The other reason why we are keen is that this project is really the essence of bespoke, which is what we are all about. They have come to us with a particular project with specific requirements and budgetary constraints. We have applied our technical skills to come up with a design that fulfills those requirements and hope to continue to work with them until the chair is finished to their satisfaction. They are also pleased that we have agreed to look at the job as they had been unable to find anyone that would do it. Truly bespoke makers like us are hard to find.
I'll keep you posted on the development of this project.
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Story chair, first design with upholstered back and carved cat in top panel. This is an initial sketch only.
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Story chair, second design, with snow capped mountains. This would be achieved by applying maple veneer to the peaks. Again this is just an initial sketch, presentation drawings will be developed for the school.
Comments…Add yours
Posted by joanna on 04/02/11
Thank you so much for the fantastic initial sketches that you have provided us for Dot's chair. I personally feel truely thrilled both with your ideas and the wonderful blog you have written. I have left the sketches in the staff room for all to see and we now need to arrange a meeting time for us to discuss further ideas and and to meet with yourself. I'll get back in touch next week so that we can make more formal arrangements and get the project moving! Many thanks again
Joanna
Posted by Doug Smith on 10/09/11
Hi Joanna,
Really enjoyed your blog on the Story Chair. I teach technology at a Secondary School and have a small Resistant Materials group who study (life) skills with me. A project I would love to let them investigate/research is that of the Story Chair, with the idea that they could make some for our Primary Link Schools. The Story Chair is very new to me and I am trying to find out more about it, especially ideas and research on them. Dont know if you can help with ideas but I hope your chair is developing well. Good luck.
Doug
Posted by chris on 11/10/11
Hi Doug
Only just spotted your post. If you would like to find out more about the story chair just ring me on 01943 880417.
It is almost finished and ready for delivery. I will do another blog with pictures when it is delivered.
Chris