Future Heirlooms — Tim Webber

New Zealand designer Tim Webber is renowned for creating high quality, timeless furniture pieces and objects that blur the line between art and design. While immensely usable and practical, his pieces are also well-considered design objects with a sense of playfulness innate in their forms.

Based in Grey Lynn, Auckland, Tim Webber has been in business since 2011. His latest collection is dubbed Permanence, a name chosen to reference one of his design aims – to create pieces that are lasting, in terms of both practicality and aesthetic longevity.

The angular tabletop on the Trace Table references the cantilever structures created by Italian futurist architect Giuseppe Pettazzi in the 1930s.

Tim often takes inspiration from architectural design and engineered creations, and the Trace Table from the Permanence collection is a case in point. The angular tabletop on the Trace Table references the cantilever structures created by Italian futurist architect Giuseppe Pettazzi in the 1930s. Skilfully crafted from a range of warm solid timbers, this piece emanates art deco elegance.

There is a true essence of elevated industrialism in the design of the Polson Light. Created from polished brass shot through a glass tube and with acrylic diffusers to create a warm light, this is a deceptively simple and incredibly effective addition to a dining table or kitchen island. Similarly, the Index Sideboard juxtaposes the stark robustness of metal against a softer material, in this case timber. Perched on a solid, galvanised steel base, the warm solidity of the timber sideboard unit is further enriched by this contrast.

New Zealand designer Tim Webber is renowned for creating high quality, timeless furniture pieces and objects that blur the line between art and design.

A quirky angle to the powder-coated spun aluminium or brushed brass stand of the Switch Lamp gives it a point of difference, added to by the domed American ash fitting at the back of the shade. As useful as it is beautiful, this piece is quintessential of the designer’s approach.

The same could be said of the two sofas in this collection: the Grayson and the Copen. The Grayson brings in a similar juxtaposition of materials to the Index Sideboard, with a fine steel base contrasted against the full cushioning and rounded form of the upholstery. On a base of walnut or oak trim, the Copen is a distinctive, modular sofa that is incredibly functional, with a rounded arm that was inspired by the Round Tower in Copenhagen.

As is typical of Tim Webber’s work, Permanence is a collection of furniture to be handed down from generation to generation. Designed with a timeless sense of style and grace, each piece is a testament to craftsmanship of impeccable quality.