High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, is known as the chair- and furniture-making capital of the UK, so it is no surprise that Bucks New University offers an internationally-renowned furniture department.
The university provides general and specialist courses in furniture design, conservation, restoration, wood carving, cabinet making, kitchen design, upholstery, interior design and decoration, product design and more.
British furniture manufacturer, Ercol, based in nearby Princes Risborough, supported the university’s annual Art and Design Show this year, organising a competition for the BA students’ final year project to design a wooden chair that would synonymously fit ercol’s aesthetic.
The winning student – judged by Edward Tadros and Vicky Tadros, the grandson and granddaughter of Ercol’s founder – would have their design made by the Ercol team in the factory.
The winner, Jacob Underwood, designed a modern-day stackable dining chair suitable for production in Ercol’s factory. Jacob’s design has been made into three prototypes.
Edward Tadros says: “We chose Jacob’s stacking chair as we really appreciated that the design was well-thought through, creating a clever and aesthetically pleasing piece of furniture. ercol makes a number of stacking pieces of furniture itself, from stools to chairs, and so we understand the complex nature of the design.”Jacob Underwood’s stackable chair design
