Studio SL: Layers in Time
British furniture maker Silverlining opens a new chapter in its remarkable four-decade journey with Layers in Time—a limited-edition collection crafted entirely within its world-class North Wales workshop. Designed by Studio SL, the brand’s in-house collective of designers, makers, researchers, and engineers, the series marks the beginning of a new annual tradition while celebrating Silverlining’s 40 years as one of the UK’s most progressive forces in contemporary furniture design.
Presented at the General Assembly Gallery in Mayfair from 14–19 October, the collection encompasses eight pieces that reflect an ongoing investigation into materiality, time, craftsmanship, and the meeting point between hand and machine. Across the works, Silverlining explores the possibilities of wood, leather, composite materials, and resin, revealing nuanced structural and sensory qualities through meticulous craft and innovation.
With over 30 specialist crafts under one roof, Silverlining remains the UK’s last large-scale furniture maker of its kind—an ecosystem where marquetry, leatherwork, engineering, CNC technology, design, R&D, and fine craftsmanship coexist seamlessly. Layers in Time serves as a showcase of these capabilities distilled into objects of sculptural ambition and technical precision.
Wave Console
The Wave Console embodies the collection’s interplay of innovation and tradition. Formed from a bio-based flax fibre composite, the sculptural console curves into a hollow double-wave form engineered for strength through tension.
Over 1,200 strips of vegetable-tanned coach-hide leather—in Havana, Papaya, and Mocha tones—are hand-applied as cordings across the surface. Each strip is spokeshaved to a smooth tapering profile, shifting subtly in thickness as it follows the wave’s silhouette. In an intentional break from tradition, Studio SL exposes the fibrous cut edge of the leather rather than the polished grain, creating a raw, tactile striated effect that celebrates the material’s honest beauty.
The result is a console that feels alive—its fluid motion captured in a structure that seems to move even when still.
Slice Desk
The Slice Desk pushes the boundaries of solid wood and precision engineering. Made from laminated English oak and joined with intricate, hand-cut box joints, the desk is a meeting point between classical cabinetmaking and advanced CNC milling.
Its deep blue surface is achieved through oak gall ink, a natural pigment with roots in Roman and medieval craft traditions. A final application of lime wax, iridescent mica powders, and plant oils imparts a luminous, shifting depth that enhances both texture and colour.
Slice Desk is an object of contrasts—heritage methods enhanced by technology, structural mass tempered by sculptural fluidity, and a bold experimental finish softened by hands-on craft.
Cracked Earth Coffee Table & Bench
Drawing inspiration from the cracked salt-pan floor of Deadvlei, Namibia, the Cracked Earth Coffee Table and Bench explore geological textures through marquetry, bronze, and layered oak.
The coffee table tops feature a mesmerising marquetry composed of oak oysters—the end-grain of the oak tree where growth rings narrate its lifetime. Set between the clay-pan-inspired “cracks,” polished bronze inlays form a shimmering, fluid counterpoint.
The table’s edges are crafted from laminated oak veneer that creates a chevron-like pattern, while polished bronze legs pierce through clusters of sculpted oak forms shaped to echo the eroded contours of desert landscapes.
The accompanying bench pairs a padded burgundy leather seat with oak oyster marquetry, creating a tactile, grounded object that brings geological warmth into interior spaces.
Lumen Side Table
The Lumen Side Table examines the behaviour of natural light through resin, straw marquetry, and sculptural timber. Its pebble-shaped resin top contains a central clear window that funnels sunlight like a lens, casting shifting shadows below.
Around this aperture, eight tones of hand-laid French straw radiate in a warm, halo-like gradient, creating a surface that appears to glow even without illumination.
Three oversized, hand-turned oak legs with chip-carved detailing anchor the piece, grounding its poetic top with a strong architectural presence.
Chroma Mirror
The Chroma Mirror honours the ancient tradition of moulded leather, using a process that involves soaking hides before shaping them over custom moulds through controlled pressure and time. When dried, the leather retains a sculptural form that becomes a canvas for expressive surface painting.
Water-based dyes, applied with fine calligraphy brushes, build layers of colour that highlight the natural grain of the leather. The mirror itself is framed with gold-plated brass, giving the piece a refined, gallery-ready presence.
Chroma Mirror reads as both a functional object and a painterly relief—a contemporary updating of a centuries-old technique.
Ripple Mirror
The Ripple Mirror captures the fleeting dance of raindrops on still water. Concentric and intersecting waves are sculpted beneath burgundy coach-hide leather, creating a rhythmic surface around a central hand-silvered mirror.
Hand-chased textures and a natural wax finish enhance the play of depth, shadow, and highlight, making the work feel almost kinetic—as though the ripples might continue outward beyond their boundaries.
All photography: Mark Reeves
A Collective Milestone for Silverlining
Founder and chairman Mark Boddington views Layers in Time as a deeply personal chapter:
“Layers in Time is a deeply personal milestone. It takes me back to the very first pieces I designed and made myself for collectors, 40 years ago. Today, however, this collection represents something far greater than individual effort. It is the culmination of the collective expertise, ingenuity, and dedication of a 70-strong team of designers, researchers, makers, and engineers… together shaping the future of contemporary furniture design.”
For Laetitia Contat Desfontaines, Silverlining’s head of strategy and business development, the collection marks a defining moment:
“Layers in Time reveals our own design identity and marks a new chapter in how we share our work with the world. With this collection, we showcase the depth of our talent, our mastery of materials and finishes, and the extraordinary skills that exist under one roof.”
Shaping the Future of Collectible Design
As Silverlining celebrates its 40th anniversary, Layers in Time stands as a powerful reminder of the brand’s ongoing impact on contemporary design. The collection not only demonstrates unparalleled craftsmanship but also redefines the possibilities of material innovation and collaboration across disciplines.
With its debut at the General Assembly Gallery in Mayfair, Layers in Time positions Silverlining at the forefront of the global collectible design landscape, reinforcing its reputation as Britain’s most progressive and ambitious furniture maker—and signalling an exciting new era of creativity for the decades ahead.
