Furniture maker Fyrn builds on a unique heritage of craft with The Keyhole Collection – expanding their current range of seating to include a dining table and bench. Deceptively simple in aesthetic, the inimitable design is an expansion and scaling of the proprietary hardware used in their previous seating options.
At the helm are designer and fourth generation woodworker, Ros Broughton, and Fyrn’s Co-Founder David Charne who have spent over a decade testing the elasticity of these limits. The new architecture marries their interpretation of the classic trestle with custom connections elevating the series from home furnishings to structural art – striking yet utilitarian.
“It made a lot of sense for tables to be a priority for us given that seating was where we started. That definitely drove some of these choices,” says Charne. And the company consults with architects and designers alike to stay abreast of client needs. ”We foster a feedback loop with those professionals as to what’s resonating with consumers and what features customers most desire. And so, I think there’s this balance for us between making sure we’re creating elevated pieces and the support from adjacent professions.”
The dining table forgoes traditional apron-to-leg joinery to articulate connections with a visible gap between the wooden legs and tabletop. This visual que is indicative of its functional role, which allows for efficient manufacturing, flat packing, and ease of assembly. Now unencumbered, the linear base allots more room for those seated while the floating, solid-wood surface optimizes dining space.
The accompanying bench shares the same structural and aesthetic DNA but with a varied application for interior design solutions to include flanking the dining table, seamless integration with other Fyrn seating options, and the ability to anchor other spaces independently. The collection is available in Natural Oak, Black Walnut, and Oxidized Oak oil finishes with Copper Bronze or Graphite Brackets, to start.
Keyhole celebrates the broader implications of Fyrn’s patented, proprietary architecture and design practices that are inherently sustainable. “The hardware system allows us to put a very strong, durable connection in areas where other furniture is prone to failure. And it also really allows us to use material efficiently when it comes to hardwoods,” says Broughton. “It helps us think about a circular product in the sense that it’s very easily repaired if the need rises, or refurbished if somebody were to decide that the furniture was no longer for them.”
Creativity knows no bounds in Fyrn’s Mission District studio as the company not only hand-crafts their products, but also the proprietary equipage. “Once we had a design that we loved, I then had to figure out how to turn around and produce it. And certain machinery we needed to do so did not exist, so we had to design, engineer, and build it,” says Broughton. Constantly developing, building, and modifying equipment affords them the ability to cut and create complex joinery in perpetuity.
“One of the things we’re learning as we start bringing more products to market is the fact that we’re producing hardware internally and that it fits within our system of design. It differentiates Fyrn’s products in a way that is not copied and would be too difficult to do so,” says Charne. “And if you really get into the nuts and bolts of the brackets, you’ve got aerospace level tolerances on furniture being used in homes and restaurants. And that’s just really hard to replicate.” It’s going to take time for furniture design imbued with such thought and care to permeate consumer culture in a way where the aspirational replaces the disposable. “I think that long-term, there’s a huge opportunity for what we’re doing to be inspirational to other industrial designers and the furniture industry as a whole.”
Fyrn Co-Founders
To learn more about The Keyhole Collection, visit fyrn.com.
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