My design process
For me, creativity sparks when I walk. My mind wanders freely as I take in the world around me. Fleeting glimpses of architecture, structures and nature begin to form three-dimensional ideas in my imagination. These impressions intertwine with memories, creating intricate patterns that become the beginnings of a design.
I want to create pieces with presence. Collections that inspire individuality and invite personal expression. I keep each collection deliberately limited, allowing every piece to become something to be cherished, lived with and passed down through generations. At the heart of my work is an unwavering commitment to sustainability.
Family connection
With each collection, I imagine how the pieces might be lived with, and the place they might take within a family. In my own family, armchairs have taken pride of place through generations, becoming part of the backdrop to some of life’s most important moments.
Intrigue became obsession
The National Trust was a huge part of my childhood. Through my teenage years and into adulthood, its houses, gardens and collections have remained a kind of safe haven. Places where history, craftsmanship and design can still be experienced in their original surroundings.
After an art history lecture on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement, my parents took me to Gunby Hall in Lincolnshire to see the Daisy wallpapers and matching fabrics.
When visiting Hardwick Hall for the first time, I was captivated by the High Great Chamber. Beneath its royal canopy, with the royal coat of arms above the mantelpiece, stand two grand chairs created to receive royalty.
There was something about their presence that caught me. The way they seemed to give importance to the person sitting in them. I remember thinking that every home should have a chair that makes you feel like the embodiment of ambition.
My fascination with structure began much earlier, walking along Nottingham’s Victoria Embankment as a child and looking towards the arches of Trent Bridge.
I was fascinated by their scale, symmetry and strength. The beauty of something engineered purely to perform.
School of art & design
In 2008, I enrolled at art college with the intention of becoming a landscrape artist. It was there that my tutor, Alistair Brown, changed the direction of my life. During an art history lecture exploring the Arts and Crafts movement, I was introduced to the work of William Morris. The following week, the subject turned to Marc Newson. The contrast between the two was fascinating, but more importantly, something clicked. I began to see furniture not simply as something we live with, but as a form of artistic expression in its own right.
My love for craft was born.
In 2008, I enrolled at art college with the intention of beginning that journey. It was there that my tutor, Alistair Brown, changed the direction of my life. During an art history lecture exploring the Arts and Crafts movement, I was introduced to the work of William Morris. The following week, the subject turned to Marc Newson. The contrast between the two was fascinating, but more importantly, something clicked. I began to see furniture not simply as something we live with, but as a form of artistic expression in its own right.
The Rubber band chair
After my first visit to Hardwick Hall, I spoke with Alistair about my new fascination. Not too long after, Alistair brought a small, dilapidated green wooden chair into the studio. It had clearly lived a life before it reached me. He told me that it would become the basis of my next project.
A restoration began. As I worked, rubber bands were wrapped between the legs and around the spindles to hold the fragile structure together. But something unexpected began to happen. What had started as a practical solution slowly became part of the chair itself. As more bands were connected, they formed a new structure, transforming the character and appearance of the original piece.
I began to realise that restoration did not necessarily mean returning something to what it once was.
Perhaps it could mean discovering what it could become.
That small green chair became one of the first moments in which I understood how I wanted to design. I became fascinated by structure, proportion, movement and the relationship between function and expression. Most importantly, I learned to look beyond what something was and imagine what it might become.
2010 - 2014 Exploring Product design
I went on to study product design at university, where I developed a deeper understanding of materials, manufacturing and the mechanics behind the objects we live with. But life was changing in ways that made it difficult to see where I was heading.
During those years, my father's terminal illness brought a very different perspective to my life. I was beginning to understand that time, permanence and what we leave behind carry a significance far beyond the objects themselves.
The Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador
A very proud former Young Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust. Having himself completed the enterprise programme, Andrew is now using his voice to tell his story to inspire young people, potential donors and existing funders for The Prince’s Trust.
It is a role that Andrew is passionate about as it allowed him to directly interact with people that have the ability to change the lives of young people and help them to achieve their full potential.
