This year was a huge one for our design team. We made our debut appearance at the iconic Clerkenwell Design Week #CDW24 where we unveiled our new and innovative sculptural wood furniture collection. 

Our arrival on the London design scene came almost two decades after we opened our original workshop in the Yorkshire Dales. These days we have a 16-strong design and manufacturing team and we wanted to showcase our growth, how fare we’d come – and our revolutionary new range of stools.

Using the very latest digital techniques, Creative Director David Wilson and Principal Designer Charlotte Fitzpatrick were able to push the boundaries of design thanks to the latest CAD design software. This allowed them to create furniture with an unusual organic shape that gives the appearance of sculpted wood.

The first design in the collection was the stacking tripod stool. It uses some of the most up-to-date digital design techniques to create the unusual appearance of sculpted wood.

“It takes its inspiration from nature and the stools can be stacked to create an architectural feature in their own right.”

Charlotte Fitzpatrick

David is a doctor of engineering and the co-founder and creative director of Dovetailors. He worked closely with Charlotte, who initially joined Dovetailors as a placement student eight years ago. They used CAD design software to remove limitations without discarding the need for craft in the furniture making process. It’s a perfect example of how technology opens up exciting possibilities, letting us be adventurous as we mould the design.

From small beginnings, Dovetailors has grown to be an innovative and unique furniture designer and manufacturer, even crafting a ceremonial chair for the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Our workshop has three CNC machines and a strong team of furniture designers, who are all highly experienced in state-of-the-art design software and complex CAD CAM programming. We are paving the way for the future by training the next generation of designers in-house.

The tripod stacking stool can be manufactured in solid oak, walnut or ebonised beech and each piece is hand oiled in the workshop. A recessed seat is ergonomic for comfort and allows the tripod stool to double up as a side table.

The components are manufactured using tour Bacci 5 axis CNC machine and lathe in the workshop and assembled using traditional mortice and tenon joining for strength.

Our design team has developed bar stool and counter stool variations, all of which were on display at Clerkenwell Design Week.

Our debut appearance at #CDW24 was such a success that we have signed up for #CDW25. Our designers are already hard at work creating some exciting contemporary wood furniture to showcase in London in 2025.