Dream collaborations · No. 01
A little sculpture.
A lot of possibility.
The bath that stopped me in my tracks. The chair that seemed to defy gravity. And the pool slide I’m still dreaming of bringing to a client’s home.
Imagine the project ↓An admiration that goes back years
Some designs
stay with you.
I remember discovering Splinterworks around 2013, and I have been a fan ever since. I have had the pleasure of meeting Miles Hartwell and Matt Withington on several occasions over the years. Their work has a way of making you stop, look again and smile.
Miles and Matt founded Splinterworks in 2009. Both had previously worked with Johnny Grey, whose approach to design has also been an inspiration to me. There is something I love about bringing that imagination to familiar objects: a chair, a bath, a way into the swimming pool.
By June 2013, I was already writing about their carbon-fibre bath. Two years later, I interviewed Matt about the ideas behind their work. This is a fascination that has stayed with me as their portfolio has grown.
Splinterworks is the first in our Dream Collaborations series: designers and makers I would love to bring into a future client project.
The designers who inspire our work →Where the fascination began
A different way
to see the everyday.
01 / THE BATH
Suspended in possibility.
Being in the bathroom industry, this was the piece that really caught my imagination: a bath made from carbon fibre, suspended above the floor like a hammock. I absolutely loved it.
I wrote about the original Vessel in 2013. Today, Splinterworks’ suspended carbon-fibre bath is offered as Hamaca. That extraordinary floating form still has the same power to stop me in my tracks.
Read my original bath feature ↗02 / THE CHAIR
A playful sense of balance.
The Bodice Rocker brings back that early fascination with their sculptural furniture. Its rocking movement and unexpected balance made it feel wonderfully alive.
When I interviewed Matt in 2015, he named it as his favourite commission. It has since been retired, but it remains part of the story of why I fell for Splinterworks in the first place.
Read my interview with Matt ↗The project I can still picture
Wake up.
Slide in.
Start swimming.
A few years ago, I was working with a client who was refurbishing an indoor swimming pool. A bedroom overlooked the pool, and I could immediately envisage the most wonderful connection between the two: a Splinterworks slide from the bedroom straight down into the water.
Imagine waking up in the morning, taking your slide into the pool and beginning your swim. A little moment of joy, built into the everyday.
We explored the idea and went as far as obtaining a quotation. On that occasion, the cost put it beyond the scope of the project, so it did not go ahead. But the idea has stayed with me.
I would still love to find the client who shares that excitement, and explore what we could create together with Splinterworks.
Inside, outside, entirely personal
Something to admire.
Something to enjoy.
The sculptural pool slides are now the part of Splinterworks’ work I find myself returning to most. Indoors, the slide becomes part of the room’s architecture. Outside, it catches the light and reflects the garden and water around it.
That is what excites me: something beautiful to look at, with the pleasure of actually using it. I would love to explore either setting with a client who wants their home to feel a little more adventurous.
Explore Splinterworks’ pool slides ↗From my archive
A long-standing
fascination.
These original articles trace the interest back through the years, from the suspended bath to my conversation with Matt and the wonderfully unexpected pieces that followed.
Lisa Melvin Design · June
Close your eyes and relax in paradise…
My original feature on Vessel, the suspended carbon-fibre bath.
Revealed magazine blog · November
A little surrealism at the table.
Our archive feature on the Elepharaonic table and chairs, a Splinterworks private commission.
Lisa Melvin Design · September
Body Rockers: in conversation with Matt.
Art, function, materials and the ideas behind Splinterworks’ designs.
Lisa Melvin Design · August
Design meets triathlon.
Splinterworks’ sculptural trophy for the Jenson Button Trust Triathlon.
An invitation to imagine
Could your home
be the next chapter?
If a sculptural pool slide, a suspended bath or an ambitious idea of your own has caught your imagination, I would love to hear it. Let’s explore the possibility of a future collaboration with Splinterworks.
We would begin with your space, your aspirations and your budget, then explore the design and feasibility with Splinterworks and your project team.
Photography, design credits & further reading
Product and installation images: Splinterworks. The images show Splinterworks’ designs and projects; our hoped-for collaboration is a future ambition. The Slinx pool pavilion shown was designed by Foster + Partners. Lisa’s bedroom-to-pool proposal was explored and quoted but not built. The Bodice Rocker is an archive design and is no longer in production.