Production Stories: Patchwork privacy screens for a contemporary seaside home
The latest studio project is a set of four privacy screens for a brand new beach front property on the South Coast of the UK.
The brief
The Brief was to design and manufacture a set of screens, which would shield the occupants from walkers during the evening and early hours of the morning without disrupting the clean lines of the space.
In such a contemporary room curtains felt out of place, and would block too much early morning light from the South East facing room. So we began looking closer to home for inspiration, examining our most used piece of equipment - the screen printing frame, using it as the starting point for our design concept and solution.
The finished aluminium frames were spray coated to match the window frames so they blend in seamlessly with the surround. The challenge was to create a frame which could bring tension to the finished textile panels without permanently affixing them with staples or glue. This was achieved with a bar at the bottom of the frame string with elastic which could be tensioned and discreetly hidden within the feet of the screens.
Once this part of the development was resolved, we then set to work creating four bespoke textile panels which would form the centre of the screens.
The finished panels are made from cotton organdie, organic cotton and screen printed sections, the colours draw on the planing in the garden and the small areas of print pull together textures of the surrounding beach and sea. We used a mix of translucent and opaque panels to create the effect of stained glass in textiles, the fabrics respond in different ways throughout the day and work together to give the best coverage and privacy for the space.
The composition of each panel had a slightly unusual beginning. The compositions were taken directly from a drawing made of doorways on a street in Mexico. This unusual framework gave the panels rhythm without symmetry, and allowed us to piece together multiple textures and colours without the final pieces feeling disparate.
This eclectic approach fitted perfectly with the upholstery (something we consulted on at the beginning of the project) and diverse collection of art in the space. It Is a space full of life and colour and the screens needed to be as dynamic as the rest of the interiors.
This project demonstrates the diverse projects which can be achieved with patchwork and print, if you have a project you would like to add some screens (or fun upholstery) to then please contact the studio.
