A small new farm shop needed some shop fittings. The inside of the barn has been lined with natural finished plywood, and the owners wanted some display furniture to complement this. Wanting to make the furniture themselves a design was required that was flexible, practical, matched the appearance of the surroundings and could be made using domestic tools. Island units were wanted in a hexagon format as well as some wall shelves. The wall shelves were to be created using the old floor joists so they have a nice patina to them. The hexagons however needed to be new. Starting with a tall podium, painted with blackboard paint, these provide the central locator. Keeping to the simple is best approach these are weighted with dry gravel and constructed with glued mitre joints on concealed ply ribs. Surrounding these are pentagon tubs on wheels. Care was taken to conceal fixings and castors out of view. The pentagon shape connects to the podium, but most importantly can be reused in a variety of formats should they want to display in a different manner. Lift-out false bottoms allow for storage of produce and bags/boxes etc. The blackboard paint allows prices to be displayed. Raw ply edges are revealed to continue the theme within the space.
Basic drawings were provided with construction notes showing how concealed joints should be created. Furniture and design of built-in items can be commissioned as part of the service as necessary. As with the architecture service, this can be tailored to suit each project. In this instance basic typical drawings were all that was necessary as the end-user who wanted to make them himself was experienced in joinery.
