In 2018, Design Exhibition Scotland debuted the Oxbow Lounge Chair. A collaboration between designer maker, Namon Gaston and master upholster, Peter Holmes. They had previously worked together on projects however the Oxbow was their first collaborative design project. The process enabled Gaston and Holmes to push and pull ideas and possibilities from the outset, shaping and informing a new structural form that unites highly considered design with the sculptural presence of upholstery. In early 2019, the Oxbow was awarded the prestigious Design Guild by The Furniture Makers’ Company in London.
In 2019, Gaston shows work from a recent collection. Entitled Cùram, Gaston’s driving force was to create an approachable, affordable and carefully crafted family of solid wood furniture made from locally-sourced materials. Cùram, a Gaelic word meaning care, takes its inspiration from the traditional croft-house vernacular style. Made from an oak felled just miles from his workshop in East Lothian, Gaston hand-crafts each piece of furniture carefully combining contemporary design lines.
The Alma Chair was commissioned for a boardroom at The University of Edinburgh’s refurbished Law School building. Namon Gaston’s brief was to design a solid oak stacking chair that was lightweight and comfortable. The result is a minimal structure with gently splaying legs, a steam bent solid oak backrest and a woven seat of linen webbing: a lean and simple chair.
Namon Gaston is a furniture maker and designer based in East Lothian. He has exhibited with Craft Scotland at London Design Fair and at Custom Lane, Edinburgh. Recent commissions include a boardroom table for the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and Porteous Studio, Edinburgh.
For DES 2018, Gaston collaborated with designer maker Peter Holmes to produce the Oxbow Lounge Chair and were awarded the prestigious Design Guild Mark for their creation. The Design Guild Mark is awarded by The Furniture Makers’ Company in order to drive excellence and raise the profile of British design and innovation.