UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 06 JUNE 2023
A Birmingham City University (BCU) student set himself the target of creating good-looking, affordable and space-saving furniture to tackle an issue he feels is impacting more and more young people.
“A lot of my generation are faced with the same problem,” said Toby Hawkins, who is poised to complete a BA (Hons) degree in Art and Design. “We need homes to live in, but these homes are becoming ever more expensive and usually a lot smaller.
“I want something that can be manufactured and sold at a low cost, that saves space but gives the owner a chance to buy something beautiful.”
Toby decided he would fulfil his brief by creating a table and set of chairs. Seemingly not content with that challenge alone, the 23-year-old from Lincolnshire then decided he would make them from one giant piece of ply.
It was an ambitious project, but he had the backing of Matthew Moore, an expert joiner who shared Toby’s passion for design - and the founder of a worker co-operative based in the heart of Digbeth.
“Matthew and the team have been amazing,” said Toby. “They took me under their wing and invested time and effort in me.”
It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
Toby has been able to hone his rudimentary joinery skills under the expert eye of Matthew and his fellow workers at MJM Bespoke Fabrications.
In return, they got a reliable and enthusiastic part-time member of their team who could help fulfil their commercial obligations.
“He’s interested in making things and getting good at making things,” said Matthew, a former Fine Art student with years of experience working with wood.
“He’s got an eye for design and he can come up with concepts for furniture. He originally arrived on a placement, working one day a week for eight weeks, but he showed enough to be kept on.”
Matthew and his co-workers have, as Toby acknowledges, been great mentors.
They have a vast amount of collective experience and can produce almost anything to order, from bespoke wardrobes and kitchen units to huge display frames for art galleries and universities.
They also have a tonne of equipment for Toby to use, based at their workshop, a small, blue-painted canal-side unit at Minerva Works.
“We’ve been teaching him the skills he will need to make a piece of furniture from scratch,” said Matthew. “We start with the finishing, then work backwards from there.”
So what does Matthew think of Toby’s finished project?
“It’s really pretty,” said Matthew, who revealed that Toby’s aspiration of using just one piece of ply had required a re-think.
“It eventually became two pieces,” he added. “I’m interested to see how it weathers. It must be functional as well as aesthetic.”
Toby is certainly happy with his creation.
“It’s been super satisfying,” he said. “I wanted to produce something with the quality of handmade object without the cost, so it’s about minimising the amount of time it takes to make it.
“MJM has helped reduce that time, from hundreds of hours to just a handful.”