"Made by hand, shaped by the wood."
About
Sawhorse makes furniture by hand in London. Each piece is carved, cut, and finished in the studio — no shortcuts, no production lines. Just tools, time, and wood.
We work almost exclusively with British hardwoods: oak, ash, elm, and others sourced from managed woodlands and urban felled trees across the UK. The grain, the knots, the colour — these aren't flaws to be engineered out. They're what makes each piece its own thing.
The charring you'll see on much of the work is shou sugi ban — a traditional Japanese technique that hardens and preserves the surface. It also does something to the wood that nothing else quite replicates: it brings out the grain, deepens the colour, and gives the piece a weight that feels ancient and new at the same time.
The Work
Everything starts with the material. Before a design, before a sketch — the wood is already telling you something. The job is to listen.
The pieces are simple on purpose. A stool. A bench. Forms that have existed for centuries, refined down to what they need to be and nothing more. The making is where the complexity lives — in the joinery, the surface work, the decisions that don't show up in a photograph but you feel when you sit down.
Each piece is made one at a time, by hand, in London.
Contact
For enquiries, commissions, or to discuss a piece, get in touch at julian@studiosawhorse.com