Jason Stancombe, furniture designer and founder of Relm Furniture, was commissioned to design the dining furniture for Supernormal Natsu pop up restaurant, at the National Gallery of Victoria's (NGV) garden restaurant. The restaurant was temporary, part of Natsu, a 10 day festival held in January 2018. The Supernormal pop-up site was designed by Peter King – Senior Exhibition Designer at the NGV.
Jason used timber to enhance Peter’s design which had a slightly feminine feel, designed to provide a relaxed and informal dining experience. Natural looking timbers used in Jason’s products complemented the bluestone walls and the garden locations. Jason often uses timber as it “brings warmth and an organic feel to furniture”. He chose to use Tasmanian Oak as “ it is readily available via Porta and complements another timber we work with a lot – American Oak”. Jason’s design uses a long timber dowel, as seen in the images below.
The Designers Material of Choice
Jason, who loves to work with timber chose Porta’s timber. Jason shared that “timber provided by Porta is of a great quality and is machined just the way we require it for our furniture.” Jason shared that Porta’s Tasmanian Oak has minimal checking and misses, providing a superior product for furniture making. Porta also save him time by sanding the timber dowel products which helps to “increase efficiency in production of our furniture from Abacus Tables”.
Jason also wanted to use Porta’s Tasmanian Oak because it is sustainably and responsibly sourced. For Jason, “it is important to us to know that the timber from Porta’s is responsibly and sustainably sourced. Our customers often ask us where the timber comes from and it’s important to us to know that we are using a renewable resource”.
PRODUCT SPECIFICATION:
Tasmanian Oak Round Timber Dowels 40mm
Photo credits: @ctnfoto @relmfurniture
" Porta provides us with a premium timber product that is integral to the aesthetic of our furniture."
- Jason Stancombe, Designer & Founder, Relm Furniture
