The Carvel Chair, created by shipwright Mathew O’Malley and architect Andrew Clancy for Déanta, is made using the techniques of traditional boat construction which predominate along the west coast of Ireland.
The chair is made from European larch, the same timber from which traditional boats are made, and increasingly hard to find due to the preference of commercial growers for faster growing trees. The trees we use are wind felled and air seasoned for 2 years. We make the form of the chair from individually hand-shaped planks, steamed and bound together into a simple shape that is incredibly light, strong and comfortable. This comfort is due in no small part to the fact that the timber shell flexes to the sitters movements. It is active. To allow for this movement we support this shell on a cradle of bent phosphatized steel. As the chair is made from timber that has not been kiln dried the chair will move and adjust to where it is for the rest of its life. In drier places small gaps will open between planks, in more humid places the shell will close tight into a single form Déanta
