London Design Festival 09: British designer Tom Dixon has designed two new stools - the smaller of which is produced from the off-cuts of the larger stool - that will be launched at the first Tom Dixon store, due to open this September in west London.

Slab bar stool is a heavily lacquered oak stool with a cast iron foot rest, while the Offcut stool uses the scraps from the waney edge of an oak tree - the rough part nearest the bark, which is usually discarded due to its inconsistencies. The stool requires no additional fixings or glue in its construction and comes flat packed in a recycled box.

Offcut stool (top image) forms part of Dixon's Utility collection for 2009, while the Slab bar stool (above and below) is the latest addition to the Slab collection.

Here are some visualisations of the new showroom and display cabinets, designed by Studio Toogood. See our previous story about Dixon's 2009 Milan exhibition stand designed by Studio Toogood.

The showroom is part of Dixon's new office complex and will display the full Tom Dixon collection as well as Tom Dixon by George Smith upholstery pieces.

See all our stories about Tom Dixon in our featured designer category.

All our stories about London Design Festival 2009 can be found in our special category.

Here's further info from Tom Dixon:

--

This year British Design Company, TOM DIXON will launch its first showroom in London as well as showcasing a series of products from the new 2009 collection: Utility.

The new London showroom is part of Tom Dixon’s new office complex in Portobello Dock, Ladbroke Grove. Over 1800 sqft the new showroom will display permanently the full Tom Dixon collection alongside Tom Dixon by George Smith upholstery pieces.  As Tom says “At last  ... we have found a new home – and not just any old showroom, but a more characterised and appropriate space we could not have dreamt of. Deep in the heart of West London, at the top of Ladbroke Grove past the flyover, by the market on the canal is the new Tom Dixon Epicentre - a showroom with a pop up tea bar attached.”

The space will launch for London Design Festival new pieces from the 2009 collection focusing on furniture. Stools are the archetypical piece of UTILITY furniture, naturally multifunctional as steps, podiums and pedestals and that extra seat at the impromptu dinner party. A robust and no nonsense design they should improve with age.

“These small ones are made from the off cuts that the big ones are made from! We saw the pieces being carted off to the factory furnace, and thought STOP!! That’s the best part of the tree... The ‘wayney’ edge is the roughest, most characterised bit underneath the bark which is normally discarded for its inconsistence, but just like pork crackling, for us it’s the tastiest bit.”

The Offcut stool is a clever design that makes use of these scraps of oak wood, which we believe is the most textured and interesting part of the tree. The stool’s elementary form is the result of several innovations; the circular round seat makes use of the curved offcuts, its construction requires no additional screws or glue, and the stool is flat packed in a recycled box for ease of delivery. Available in natural and fluoro orange.

A new addition to the Slab collection, the Slab Bar Stool is epitomised by a combination of materials; specially crowned oak, heavily lacquered to expose the natural grain, and cast iron. The exposed cast iron foot rest reinforces and adds strength to the structure of the chair, creating a durable and hard wearing design. Available in black and natural.

Product information:
Slab Bar Stool
H 76cm, Seat Diameter 34cm

Offcut Stool (Natural and Fluoro Orange)
H: 42.5 cm, Seat Diameter 34cm