Australian Wood Review

Woven Wood Bench

Four years ago I made a shelf from a woven lattice of wood as I wanted a light and transparent look. It only had to carry a couple of jumpers so after a few trials I realised 3mm maple slats were more than strong enough. Very quickly my one year old realised this shelf was his favourite place to jump as it had a nice bouncy action – and to my surprise he didn’t break it like most other things in the house!

Extending this idea to other furniture items seemed obvious, so I came up with a concept using a very simple frame for the weaving supported by vertical legs. The Danish cord benches from the 50s used stretchers for stability, but for a cleaner look I decided to use just the one deep 90mm rail. This could withstand a lot of downwards force, and as it didn’t need much sideways

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