IN THE WORKSHOP WITH BYRON

Ahead of our upcoming London Design Festival show, we visited Byron at his workshop in North East London. Known for his playful and resourceful approach to making, Byron uses found and waste materials to create unique furniture and objects.

Here are some highlights from our chat.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your practice?
I am a designer and maker based at Blackhorse Workshop in North East London. My practice mainly works with waste and found materials as a starting point to create furniture and objects. I see London as a pantry of materials to make with. There is so much waste in the city that can be used as a starting point to create from.

How did your practice begin?
I started the practice a few years ago, and it was born out of a shift in mindset to see the city as a pantry of waste or found materials to make with. Over time, I have built a network of connections in London that allows me to source timber offcuts, plastics, metals and all sorts of materials.

What is the patchwork process you mentioned?
I use what I call the patchwork process. It ranges from gluing together lots of timber offcuts to collecting waste plasterboard to make furniture. Material plays a big part in the studio. I would say material and play are the most important parts. I make sure I dedicate time each week just to experimenting. It is about curiosity, seeing what happens, and keeping the process fun. If you are not enjoying it, then what is the point?

What are you working on at the moment?
Right now I am working on pieces that combine plasterboard and wood. For years I treated these materials as separate, but now I am interested in how I can integrate them in fun and interesting ways. I am developing a lighting collection as well as stools, side tables and coffee tables. I have also started a project using walnut offcuts - I recently finished a lamp and am now working on a wall cabinet.

You mentioned being inspired by archaeology - can you tell us more about that?
I am fascinated by archaeology. It is amazing that objects can be buried underground for hundreds of years and then discovered. These artefacts and materials tell stories about individuals and communities, and so much of that is about locality and resourcefulness. Those principles really resonate with me and my practice.

What will you be doing for the Slancha exhibition at LDF?
I am very excited to be working with Slancha on their upcoming exhibition for London Design Festival, which is based around the car boot sale. My plan is to collect metals from the car boot, see them for their material potential, melt them down and turn them into fun new pieces.

Shop Byron's collection here.