Rycotewood goes wild with HIMACS Where art meets furniture design

UK distributor for HIMACS, James Latham, a long-time champion of skills and material innovation in the UK furniture-making industry, returned as a sponsor of the competition for a third consecutive year, providing premium materials to inspire the students.

Twelve second-year degree students took part and were challenged to produce a piece of furniture intended for storage. Since James Latham first partnered with Rycotewood, HIMACS solid surface has proven to be one of the most popular materials for flexing the student’s creative muscles. It was an overwhelming favourite again this year, being chosen for almost every piece entered and with an impressive variety of elegant applications.

The 2024 edition also saw this pioneering and ultra-versatile product pushed to its limits with show-stopping results, including one of the most original treatments and inventive applications of HIMACS seen to date.

Burning with ideas

The overall winner was Baxter Mansley-Leach, who designed and built a unique hallway storage piece characterised by daring vision and ingenious experimentation.

Using a wide variety of materials including oak, woven willow, and steel rebar to create the frame and basket, Baxter fashioned the piece’s crowning glory – a feature inspired by a traditional Native American headdress – by customising HIMACS to resemble weather-beaten leather or bone. This involved considerable manipulation of the material, which is renowned for its robust durability, resistance – and even repairability if needed – but which has never been given such deliberate treatment before!

The look Baxter was seeking came about as he explored the behaviour of the material under considerable duress, by subjecting it first to acid bathing then blow-torching. Ultimately, Baxter heated the HIMACS sheet to 450 degrees in a kiln* designed for pottery, then ripped it by hand and scraped the blistered surface away. It was this latter technique, which achieved the most interesting results, creating a torn and frayed effect. By maximising HIMAC’s ease of fabrication and thermoformability, he was then able to create the distinctive headdress element to complete his design.

The judges were unanimous in their praise, singling out Baxter’s ambition, inventiveness and ability to conceive and create both a storage space and a striking artwork in a single piece of furniture.

*Naturally it is not recommended that HIMACS be treated in this way for standard applications, other than for one-off artistic or decorative works, as this would nullify the warranty and potentially affect key functional properties. Furthermore, any such treatments should be undertaken only in controlled working conditions and with the appropriate safety measures and equipment.

Bend me, shape me, any way you want me

There were a number of other ingenious and finessed uses of HIMACS worthy of mention which showcase both its elegance and versatility. Charlie Martin demonstrated the material’s ability to be carved like natural timber to great effect, routing a tessellated inlay in HIMACS Diamond White for integration to a contemporary side cabinet.

Alex Holden, chose HIMACS Sanremo to be dovetail jointed to European Oak to achieve a visual contrast for the drawer interiors of his sophisticated, multi-tiered jewellery box.

Exploring the material’s ability to be twisted, turned and even knotted, Lucas Davidson, used thin lengths of HIMACS in Black to create a wrought iron effect on the doors of his wallmounted kitchen cabinet.

Matthew Suckling also worked with thin straps of HIMACS in Black to create a series of artistically curved bars as a flourish to his own piece.

Shaun Allison created an elegant wall storage piece in which a slender, seamless strip of HIMACS in Intense Ultra Black lines the edge of a beautifully and skilfully veneered cupboard and drawer unit and then curves into serpentine shelves below.

Commenting on the work, Josh Hudson, Furniture Lead at Rycotewood, said, “It’s been a privilege to watch how our students have taken to a non-traditional furniture material like HIMACS, and the more familiar they’re becoming with it, the more ambitious they’ve become in their scope. Baxter’s piece is truly inspiring and shows an incredible depth of imagination, playfulness, and even rebelliousness in the final piece.”