Benjamin Charles is no stranger to the design industry, having worked in the furniture manufacturing business for the last five years as a cabinet maker. He has had firsthand experience making some of the country's finest design pieces for local designers such as Simon James, David Trubridge and David Moreland, so it comes as little surprise that he's picked up a keen design sensibility along the way. From his own studio based in Tauranga he works on collaborative projects, bespoke commissions and now his own line of furniture under the name Benjamin Charles Design.

Benjamin's first entry, the low table with cast bronze legs, is a beautifully finished piece which has a deep long lasting quality to it. The single slab of NZ native Matai, has been burnished by hand to create a glassy finish and the dove tail joints hark back to old age forms of craftsmanship. The table requires no fixings so can easily be flat packed to ship.

Constructed from black Tawa, the lamp titled Puzzled, has been adapted from an old wooden puzzle and all the pieces can be dismantled. Benjamin's version houses a lightbulb as opposed to the original wooden ball, and three legs have been extended to create a stable base. It is a great conversational piece, with viewers often not able to put it down until they have solved the puzzle.

View more of Ben's work here.

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