In Mandie Beuzeval’s practice, sustainability and contemporary design are not mutually exclusive but rather combine to be expressive timeless furniture.
Mandie is a furniture designer and maker based in the East End of London. Her love of wood and a passion for process informs her approach to designing attractive, modern, versatile and high-quality furniture.
Sustainability is threefold in Mandie’s work:
- Firstly, sustainable wood and a circular system of using offcuts, saving wood between projects and woodchips providing animal bedding in a local city farm, mean all trees are respected and put to good use.
- Secondly, Mandie’s work is expertly crafted, and its durable design means this furniture lasts a lifetime, a pushback against the throw-away culture we are currently inundated by.
- Thirdly, carefully considered versatility of design in all of Beuzeval furniture’s work means that as the life of the user, their needs and homes change, the furniture’s adaptability ensures it remains ever useful.
Sustainable ethos is not only about propelling forward with techno-fixes but slowing down to consider what already works well or has been cast aside. Beuzeval furniture favours traditional craft over mass production; the furniture, whether bespoke or part of a small batch, is handmade with care to achieve fine detail and a polished finish.
Consciously considering purchases and Investing in furniture that are equally sustainable in material and design all helps with the urgent climate crises.
Sustainability and contemporary design combined in one cabinet
Mandie Beuzeval combines both sustainability and contemporary design in her work, as can be seen in the Sidney cabinet that she recently showed at London Design Fair.
Mandie has used cherry, walnut and London plane wood for the cabinet. The wood is all sustainably sourced. The walnut and London plane is waste wood from felled trees. The cherry is FSC and PEFC certified.
The design is evocative of the free-standing larder from the fifties. A tall cabinet with a small footprint, it has that simple and practical usefulness, clean lines and clever touches. On opening, the central portion becomes additional shelving and a surface area.
Mandie has made sure that Sidney can be freestanding and all four sides of the cabinet are exquisitely finished. This attention to detail is rarely found in mass produced furniture, where the back panels of cabinets are often made of flimsy mdf material.
Ebonised wood provides a two-toned effect that like a layered cake is pleasing to the eye. The combination of shelves and drawers makes the cabinet suitable for multiple situations; it can be used in the bedroom, living room or kitchen.
Sidney is the perfect example of how Beuzeval Furniture successfully combines sustainability and contemporary design across their range of cabinets, tables, benches and stands. The two are integral to the type of practical and aesthetically pleasing products that Mandie specialises in.
The same ethos can be seen in Folding, a unique folding rack with optional shelves and Utility, a folding stand that adds height and dimension to a table. To find out more about these products or discuss a unique commission with Mandie, visit https://beuzevalfurniture.com/
