Designers Harrison Ince had to create a unique series of table top designs for the Youth Hostel Association in Cambridge. Cog and wheel motifs were to be repeated across the series but no two table tops could look exactly the same. At Morris we decided the best way to achieve this was to turn the artwork into stencils and apply each one individually. Firstly the natural wood tops were prepared and stained to provide a suitable surface for the pigment. Specialist quality film was made up for the stencils and these were applied and coloured by hand in our workshop. The table tops were then lacquered for a hard wearing finish.

Table bases to go with the tops were also manufactured in-house, this time the brief was to replicate the look of moulded cast iron without the prohibitive expense this process would normally entail.

These A-frame table bases start with a single laser-cut mild steel shape which is cleaned and dressed. A flatbar edge is welded around the laser 'A' to simulate an industrial casting. Two of these A-frames are then joined together by heavy gauge 1.5" steel tubes to form a strong, rigid construction. The raw steel table base is then ERP coated for a clean and durable finish.

Once the table top had been added to the base the set was completed by matching benches, which are the same design as the tables but produced on a smaller scale.  The table and bench sets were then packaged up, loaded on one of the Morris lorries and delivered to Cambridge YHA.