Wimbledon College of Art,  London 

Design of new art college studio fit out, February 2015

Richard Layzell is a Artist with whom we have collaborated previously. He is the head of the Print and Time based Media course and Wimbledon College of Art. He asked if we would help to design and organise the furniture for a large open plan studio space within a new purpose made building on the Merton Hall Road campus by Architects Penoyre and Prasad. The space needed to house distinct areas for 80 students within the three different degree year groups, but be flexible enough to be able to be cleared for exhibitions and events. Wall space was essential for students to display work and pin up, but the overall openness of the space had to be retained. All this had to be done on a very small budget equivalent to selecting from the standard academic furniture supplier catalogues. 

We designed a really simple but robust softwood table made from an off the shelf 4m board with minimal waste and machining. A system of screens and dividers were constructed from 2" x 2" stud work and plywood or cork sheets which could be fastened to the tables as required. When arranged as an island group of 4 tables, the screens sandwich between the edges of the table and the resulting gap between them provides a slot for laptop power cables and power chords. Full height walls are also fixed to the tables and take their stability from the weight of the the tables, allowing the space to be easily reconfigured without the need for fixing into floor slab containing underfloor heating pipework.

Movable trolleys with split batten display panels compliment this family of furniture and enable students and staff to create temporary areas for tutorials or workshop sessions. 

All the furniture was made and installed by Aldworth James and Bond