Goldfinger social enterprise to launch furniture collection
The Ayrton collection, photographed in Trellick Tower (image: Goldfinger).
Social enterprise Goldfinger is to launch a new furniture collection, the first edition of which will be made from reclaimed teak donated by Imperial College London.
Housed at the base of Ernö Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower, Goldfinger was founded in 2013 by Marie Cudennec Carlisle and Oliver Waddington-Ball. The organisation produces bespoke furniture, homeware and fittings from reclaimed and sustainable materials, as well as supporting its local community through a free monthly meal programme, the People’s Kitchen.
The new furniture range, dubbed the Ayrton collection, is the first full range that Goldfinger has designed. It features a desk, chair, bench and side table, made from reclaimed teak, donated by Imperial College London’s department of Electrical Engineering, as well as Douglas Fir, sourced from trees felled to make way for urban development.
The pieces have been created by Goldfinger’s in-house designer and maker, Daniele Barco.
The Ayrton collection is named for Hertha Ayrton, the first woman to publish a paper at the Institution of Electrical Engineering. Aryton is also the namesake of the road adjacent to the Imperial College room in which the worktables from which the teak has been sourced previously stood.
The first edition of the range will launch as part of London Craft Week (4-10 October) and be sold through an online auction. Proceeds from the sale will go towards the Goldfinger Academy, which provides courses in sustainable woodworking and craft, offering free spaces to local residents on low incomes. It also runs an apprenticeship scheme.
Although the teak and fir first edition is a one-off, a production version of the collection will be available from 23 September, produced from English elm and beech.
Story source: Goldfinger