Benjamin Hubert's design agency Layer has created a pebble-shaped timber basket for Fritz Hansen using the brand's steam-bending techniques.

Named Basket, the piece is formed through two techniques used by Fritz Hansen when handling timber – steam-bending and laminate-pressing.

While the basket's solid timber handle is steam-bent, the basket itself is crafted from pressed laminated timber and is available in natural oak, natural walnut, and stained oak.

"Our quest with Fritz Hansen is to find functionally smart products that feel authentically connected to the company's DNA," explained Hubert, founder of Layer.

"Basket is a balance of classic materiality, soft feminine forms and useful functionality – the hallmarks of the iconic Danish brand," he continued.

Layer designed the basket's soft, asymmetric form to reflect both the curvature and gentle nature of the timber material.

While creating a modern design, the studio also wanted to reference the history of Fritz Hansen and its catalogue of classic mid-century furniture pieces.

"Basket is both decorative home accessory and functional storage," explained Layer. "It can be used to stack papers, magazines, books, cushions, or other items. The handle makes it easy to pick up and move to another room, so you can bring the stored items to wherever they are needed in the home."

"The handle extends through the basket form to create feet that stabilise the soft basket shape, enabling it to stand firmly on the floor whilst being visually pure."

Basket was launched during Milan design week at the Fritz Hansen retail space. It makes the third collaboration between Layer and the Danish furniture company.

Other projects include a modular chair that has over 8,000 possible unique combinations, which he later updated with a star-shaped, wheeled base.

It forms part of the Fritz Hansen Objects collection of accessories, launched in 2016.  Other pieces in the range include a brass candlestick by Spanish designer Jaime Hayón and cushion covers by Arne Jacobsen.

Hubert rebranded his studio as Layer in 2015. During this year's Milan design week, which ended on Sunday, 22 April, Layer also launched a flexible shelving system made using  Kvadrat's recycled textile material.