Blog Posts

A Pair of Wardrobes in Clapton

25/9/2018

We recently created a set of wardrobes for a young family living nearby in Clapton. The client wanted a pair of storage units to fit into two alcoves on either side of the chimney breast in their new baby’s nursery. The challenge here was creating a design that we could build in the workshop while also being sure it would fit in the odd spaces.

We decided to make the wardrobes in two stages in order to ensure a good fit without having to do lots of cutting and drilling on site. We first constructed the carcasses and test the fit on site, then bringing them back to the workshop for size adjustment before fitting the doors, shelves, and ironmongery. The resulting set consists of a full-height and half-height wardrobe on one side, with a set of drawers and shelves on the other side.

CSM:Women in Making

16/8/2018

Earlier this summer I was privileged to be invited to Central St. Martins to take part in an event called CSM MAKE, Women in Making along side other amazing makers including Harriet Vine, Chloe Marlow, Karice Liela and Rachel Matthews. All invited makers were asked to participate in a panel discussion and then lead a workshop sharing some of their skills or experience as a maker .

CSM invited women from local children’s centres, community college and other groups to come and meet the makers and get tips and advice on different ways to get into a creative, practical, career as well learn new skills.

I decided to make a bench in my workshop using the design we came up with for Bonny Downs community garden. I really enjoyed sharing, with the invited women, the skills, knowledge and confidence I have acquired over the years as a women who works with materials, and at a scale, that is often perceived as male work.

Interestingly I was the only invited maker who was employed as opposed to self-employed. Often being self employed is presented as the only way to have a career as a creative person and while it has many benefits around being able to be flexible and setting ones own agenda it is also a lot of work. You are entirely responsible for every single aspect of your business, not just the creative fun bits but also the finances, tax returns and admin and if you are sick, you don’t get paid. People who are successfully self-employed are, in my view, super human and I have massive respect for them. I tried it and found it too much for me.

Women often already hold most of the responsibility and day to day logistics of their home life and the prospect of becoming self employed on top of that can seem daunting or straight up impossible. As a single mum it was great to be able to stand up and be living proof that there are alternative ways to have a successful, fun and fulfilling job as a maker that include holiday pay, sick pay and best of all, how ever much you enjoy your job, you get to leave at 5.30pm and not think about it again until 9.30am the next day.

By Eva Freeman, Co-DB Play

Westminster Abbey Summer Workshops

1/8/2018

Earlier this week Co-DB Play ran a day of workshops as part of Westminster Abbey’s summer families programme. We had been due to run our workshops outside but with the unpredictable British summer we moved inside to Chapter House - an amazing space with a vaulted octagonal ceiling and beautiful stained glass windows.

The aim of each session was to construct and decorate our own abbeys. These were made of modular components Co-DB Play developed to allow kids to design and construct their own structures while considering the scale of the Abbey around them.

The components comprise of large scale cardboard tubes with loops of 20mm ribbon elastic riveted down one side. These can then be looped together to form walls and other structural interventions in space. They can be freely put together and taken apart to allow kids (and adults) to make flexible design decisions as they use them.

Alongside the components Co-DB Play also provided a set of CNC cut plywood stencils inspired by the shapes and patterns that cover every surface, and are often part of the structural integrity of the buildings themselves, inside and out, of Westminster Abbey. These were used as templates from which children could cut out gold and silver shapes to decorate and embellish their structures.

We had so much fun and it was (as it always is!) a pleasure to see children engaged in working together to create their own abbeys and having lots of fun in the process.

I really enjoyed the extra dimension it added to be able to talk to the participants about how we designed and built the construction components, the tubes with elastic loops, so they could be used to design and build many more new structures over time. This is what Co-DB Play is all about!
By Eva Freeman, Co-DB Play

Co-DB with Nandos at Wireless and Bestival Festivals

31/7/2018

After two successful years working with Nandos to help build their seating area at their backstage food stall at Wireless and Bestival Festivals, we were pleased to be invited back to work with them again.

The aim was to create a simple and comfortable chill out space using timber and Nando's personal pallet of colours. We did this by creating a range of seating in different styles and some bespoke rainproof fabric for cushion covers.

Building workshops for Bonny Downs community garden

6/7/2018

We were excited to be invited by the community centre Bonny Downs in East Ham, London, to run workshops making wooden furniture together with members of the community for the Grow Together Be Together Community Garden. Using hand and power tools we constructed furniture modelled in the armchair style - bringing the comfort of the home to the outdoor community space. We also made raised bed planters for a new growing areas. The workshops took place over 3 sessions. Thank you to everyone that took part!

Anatomē is featured in Wallpaper Magazine online edition

30/4/2018

Lovely article in Wallpaper magazine online edition about Anatomē. Was a pleasure to co-design and build the shop space with Anatomē's founder Brendan.

https://www.wallpaper.com/lifestyle/anatome-wellness-boutique-launches-in-shoreditch-london-2018

New fit out for Scriberia in Kings Cross

20/4/2018

Scriberia are a talented bunch of artists and designers who create innovative visual communication for organisations and businesses.

It was a pleasure to have been invited back to work with them on creating their new two-floor office in the heart of Kings Cross.

We are particularly excited about the colour scheme and floor paint, which we think makes a vivid aesthetic throughout the space, as well as the new stairway with bookshelves.

We have incorporated furniture that we made for their previous office and have combined it with some new fitted and movable pieces and have made a kitchen fitted snugly in the centre of the office.

We are currently working on the final touches... here is an early look at what we have been doing!

shop fit out for anatomē

29/3/2018

Spotted! In this weeks Evening Standard an article about anatomē, a new health store we have been fitting out in East London. anatomē is unisex with the aim of appealing to everyone, as owner Brendan Murdock believes that 'wellness spaces' are often too gendered. The store specialises in health products but also doubles as a cafe and events space. It was great to work with Brendan to create a space to reflect its multi functional nature and the ethos of the company.

We were really excited to go to the launch night to celebrate the opening and see the final touches Brendan has made - we particularly like the plants!

Children's Art School

16/2/2018

We had a lot of fun this week at the Children's Art School in Wimbledon. Its a great organisation that delivers innovative art and design workshops for children by contemporary artists and designers. We were here for 2 days where we led a range of tasks from building the tallest tower to learning to make a bridge out of paper very strong to designing and making a building.

Click on this link to find out more about the project!