Fun playtimes ahead for Royal brother and sister

The Furniture Makers’ Company joins the world in celebrating the safe arrival to Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge of a baby girl, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

We are very pleased to announce that TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have said that they will be delighted to receive a Nursery Table and Chairs as a gift from the Company, to celebrate the birth of the new Princess.

The gift will come with all good wishes for the future health, happiness and long life of the Princess from the entire UK furnishing industry.

In February 2014, the Company presented HRH The Duchess of Cambridge with a specially commissioned high chair made by Katie Walker for use by Prince George – “A Chair Fit For a King” – and so we wanted to find an appropriate gift for the new baby.

We organised a competition to find a designer for the nursery table and chairs. There were over 20 entries from holders of our prestigious Bespoke and Design Guild Marks which produced a short list of five designers – Matthew Burt, Samuel Chan, Alex Hellum, Steuart Padwick and Katie Walker.

After presenting their design concepts in person to the judges at Furniture Makers’ Hall, eminent furniture designer, Steuart Padwick, holder of several Design Guild Marks, was unanimously chosen as the winner.

Hugh Garforth-Bles, Chairman of the Judges, commented: “We want to present a gift of specially commissioned furniture that the whole Cambridge family can enjoy. We are certain that Steuart Padwick’s design will be a great success as it thrilled us all with its sense of fun, its originality and use of colour.

“We hope the furniture will become a source of endless play for the Prince and Princess. The chairs can even become boats, canoes, or trains which can pass through tunnels under the table.

“The bright primary colours will make the furniture a source of happiness for everyone”.

The table and chairs will be exhibited by the Company at its Third Royal Charter Dinner on Tuesday 28 October, and will be delivered at a later date to Their Royal Highnesses.

About Steuart Padwick

• Steuart trained at Parnham Furniture College and the Royal College of Art, and set up as a furniture designer in 1980.
• He has designed for many retailers such as Heals, The Conran shop, Made.com and recently his Laptilt desks were selected for the new Twitter offices in US.
• The brand, Steuart Padwick, launched at 100% Design in October 2009, specialising in furniture, lighting and product design.