A limited number of The Dalmore Luminary No. 2 Whisky are available to buy from our Shop.

Tell us more about your work.

I'm a designer and maker based in Dundee and I work mostly on bespoke fabrication: furniture, displays, design installations and interior fitouts like kitchens and cafes. I started my career as a furniture maker in France, before moving to Scotland 11 years ago to study Interior and Environmental Design at DJCAD in Dundee.

I developed my own material, known as draff, during my time at DJCAD which takes the waste from gin, whisky, and beer production and forms it into a really beautiful patterned sheet material. I use this in most of my furniture making, which represents the studio's core aim of sustainable, well-detailed design.

What was the initial brief for the commission?

The brief was pretty open. It can be challenging to have a brief without constraints so that’s where finding inspiration and drawing your own boundaries as a designer can be really helpful. I took inspiration from the original architecture of V&A Dundee by Kengo Kuma, and from the specific location where the plinth would sit in the museum. In terms of materiality, it was important for us to make that link between whisky making and the museum itself, entwining multiple narratives together through form.

How did you approach the project?

When I design something I always start with researching the historical and traditional. This is where you can extract really beautiful detail, and then translate that into something paired back in the final design. In this case, I looked at traditional Japanese woodworking aesthetics and motifs, as well as the use of oak in both the whisky industry and throughout V&A Dundee. The museum’s design really ties those two narratives together beautifully.

Once I’ve found that spark of inspiration I focus on the details. In this instance it was the use of layered straight lines with varying thickness which overhang and support at the same time. This made a final form which is stable but also fragile, so there’s a real delicate nature to it. From then on, it’s about optimising and reducing waste to create something simple and efficient. Something that’s interesting but doesn’t take attention away from the objects it’s trying to display, as you want to elevate the object, not distract from it. And then you hope the client likes it!

How does it feel to work on this project?

It’s an honour to have been asked, and it’s nice that organisations like V&A Dundee and The Dalmore place their trust in independent studios. It really sends the message that there is value in design at a local scale. As a country I think this is really important, as design is a large part of our culture and heritage, so I believe we need to continue championing local designers.

You can enjoy this display in the upper hall in the museum.

A limited number of The Dalmore Luminary No. 2 Whisky are available to buy from our Shop.

Images: Grant Anderson