Palais

The collection that launched So Watt was designed by Jonathan and Sophie Biet around their kitchen table and constructed in their single car garage. Working through the limitations of minimal manufacturing options at hand, the intent of this collection was to take familiar materials that are easy to work with, and introduce a complex or new way of giving these materials their form.

The result is a uniform dowel fringe surrounding a precisely cut internal frame with proportions that are both strong but simple. The gentle treatment of the Tasmanian Oak dowel brings out the true warmth in the timber, making it the focus of this collection.

Wooden dowel furniture has become increasingly popular since the launch of the Palais collection by So Watt in 2015. The style is uniquely Australian, moving away from the previously (and continually) popular Scandinavian furniture style and introducing our own Australian furniture design voice. There is a hardiness and a strength in the warmer timber and the way it has been used in the Palais collection demonstrates fortified strength and a resilience thanks to it’s bulk and presence, rather than lightweight style.

This collection of dowel furniture needed the right complimentary material. For the oak dowel fringe ottoman designs, Oscar the oval ottoman and Hugo the round ottoman, only Kvadrat fabric upholstery would do. Feeling that the transition from upholstery to dowel fringe needed to be gradual, the introduction of two-tone upholstery gave the desired gradient. The round dowel coffee tables in this wooden dowel furniture collection carry a bigger diameter dowel, so the tops needed to be slim to balance the base. Featuring smoked grey glass or starphire clear glass, these dowel furniture pieces are elegant, timeless and extremely beautiful, ahead of the trendy furniture wave by several years.