Rycotewood School furniture making students push HIMACS to the limit, thanks to James Latham

James Latham and Rycotewood School’s annual furniture-making competition sees students continuing to push the boundaries of what cutting-edge solid surfaces can do.

Once again, leading independent timber, panels and decors distributor James Latham, has supported Rycotewood College (Rycotewood) - part of Activate Learning, Oxford - with its annual student competition.

Baxter Mansley-Leach with his unique hallway storage unit 

A long-time champion of skills and material innovation in the UK furniture making industry, it returned as a sponsor for a third consecutive year, providing premium materials for participants to showcase their craft and flex their creative muscles.

12 second-year degree students took part and were challenged to produce a piece of furniture, with an overarching theme of storage. Following a 10-week entry period, the judging took place ahead of the College’s end-of-year show, on Monday 24 June 2024, where the winning and commended entries were announced.

Since James Latham first partnered with Rycotewood in 2022, HIMACS - a revolutionary, premium solid surface - has proven to be one of the most popular products of those provided.

Charlie Martin's contemporary side cabinet cleverly showcases HIMACS Diamond White

It was the overwhelming favourite among this year’s entrants and used across almost every piece entered. However, while the choice of hero material was uniform, the variety of uses was impressive.

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

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Burning to aspire

The competition’s overall winner was Baxter Mansley-Leach, who designed and built a unique hallway storage unit to stretch the limits of the imagination.

Using a wide variety of materials including rough sawn European oak, woven willow, and steel rebar to create the frame and basket, the literal crowning glory was a Native American headdress-inspired feature in white HIMACS. Visually striking, Baxter cleverly manipulated the solid surface to give it a frayed and distressed appearance, akin to weather-beaten leather or bone.

Alex Holden's multi-tiered jewellery box uses HIMACS San Remo dovetail jointed to European oak

This eye-catching effect came by chance as he was testing the material's performance and behaviour, subjecting it to all sorts of different treatments from acid bathing to blow-torching. Ultimately, he heated the sheet to 450° in a Kiln designed for pottery, ripping it by hand and scraping the blistered surface away. It was this latter technique, used on the surface and exposed edges of the HIMACS sheet, which achieved the most interesting results, thus creating a torn, distressed effect.

Combined with HIMAC’s ease of fabrication and thermoformability, he was able to achieve something never-before-seen. The judges were unanimous in their praise, singling out Baxter’s ambition, inventiveness and ability to create both a functional storage space and a striking artwork in one piece of furniture.

Bend me, shape me, any way you want me

There were a number of other ingenious and finessed uses of HIMACS also worthy of mention, all of which showcased its versatility. One student - Charlie Martin - effectively demonstrated its ability to be carved in the same way as natural timber, routing a tessellated inlay in HIMACS Diamond White within a contemporary side cabinet.

Not to be outdone, Alex Holden used HIMACS San Remo dovetail jointed to European oak to achieve visual contrast for the drawer interiors of his sophisticated, multi-tiered jewellery box.

Lucas Davidson used thin lengths of HIMACS Black to create a wrought iron effect on the doors of his wall-mounted kitchen cabinet

Exploring HIMACS’ ability to be twisted, turned and even knotted, Lucas Davidson used thin lengths of HIMACS Black to create a wrought iron effect on the doors of his wall-mounted kitchen cabinet. Likewise, Matthew Suckling took thin straps of HIMACS Black to create a series of artistically curved bars as a flourish to his own piece.

Commenting on the work, Josh Hudson, Furniture Lead at Rycotewood, says: “It’s been a privilege to watch how our students have taken to a non-traditional material like HIMACS, and the more familiar they’re becoming with it, the more ambitious their scope. Baxter’s piece is truly inspiring and shows an incredible depth of imagination, playfulness and even rebelliousness in the final piece. He really pushed the envelope and should definitely give something for HIMACS head office to talk about! James Latham continues to be one of our most trusted and valued partners and we’re always grateful for its ongoing support, empowering students to realise their creative potential and ambitions.”

To find out more about Rycotewood School and its work, visit www.rycotewoodfurniture.co.uk. For more information on HIMACS, as well as James Latham’s wider material portfolio, see www.lathamtimber.co.uk.