New Designers 2011: design graduate Brendan Magennis has made a collection of flat-packed furniture that has no screws or glue and can be assembled with just a few hearty whacks of a mallet.

Magennis used a Japanese woodworking technique called a hell joint, where wooden wedges are driven into the ends of each dowel to pack them tightly inside the receiving hole.

Called Whackpack, the series currently comprises a table, bench and side table, with other pieces under development.

Magennis designed the collection while studying contemporary furniture design at Bucks New University and was shortlisted for the New Designer of the Year Award at the graduate show in London last month. See all our stories about New Designers here.

The text below is from Brendan Magennis:

My product Whackpack Furniture was shortlisted for the New Designer Award on preview night. It is a range of furniture stimulated by the discovery of the ‘Hell Joint’ through Japanese Joinery.

Whackpack Furniture is a flatpack inspired creation aimed for today’s nomadic lifestyles and shrinking apartments sizes. It is designed to fashion a new way for the consumer to construct furniture using wooden, a mallet and satisfying strength.

No allen keys and no glue required. The Whackpack range is made up of three pieces at the minute with other projects underway. I presented the Whackpack Coffee, Whackpack Jardinere and the Whackpack Bench at New Designers.