"This bench is a tribute to a local hardware shop" - Roger Arquer
In this movie filmed by Dezeen, east London designer Roger Arquer talks about the benches he made for the Stepney Green Design Collection using materials sourced from his local family-run hardware shop just before it closed down.
The thick planks of wood and coffee-table-legs used to make the benches plus the screws, sandpaper and oil used to finish them were all bought from the General Woodwork shop.
The store in Stoke Newington was close to Roger Arquer's studio as well as the Dezeen office and sold hardware for over 60 years before it closed down earlier this year.
"The shop was family run and quite useful for me and other designers and makers in north or east London," says Arquer. "I would go there quite often to buy lots of bits I would need to build prototypes or projects."
The Stepney Green Design Collection consists of 10 products selected by Marcus Fairs of Dezeen from creatives who live near to VIVO, a new housing development in the east London district. The project also includes objects chosen by east London bloggers Pete Stean of Londoneer and Kate Antoniou of Run Riot.
The collection is on show at the Genesis Cinema, 93-95 Mile End Road, Whitechapel, London E1 4UJ, from 10am to 10pm every day until January. After this, the objects will be given to VIVO residents.
See all the items in the Stepney Green Design Collection here and watch the movies we’ve featured so far here. The music featured in the movies is by American designer and musician Glen Lib. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.