There was an enormous amount of work involved in this project. In addition to the high level of craftsmanship and detailed making skill needed, there were a couple of special elements. One was the use of the woven American red oak strips.  Having done trials in his workshop with soaking an American red oak board and seeing how pliable it became, for the actual project he soaked two mm thick oak boards on the brook on the Benchmark land, so that they became very supple. He then cut them into strips and wove them with an assistant.

The other special element was the tambour or roll-top to one of the cupboards. Normally these are made by sticking strips of timber to a cloth backing, but Cox made his from solid pieces of wood that were joined together mechanically. This should have a long life, but he still had to create a way of getting to the mechanism to replace it if necessary. This is hidden by a drawer. Terence Conran said, ‘I have been making furniture for 60 years, but I am still learning from Sebastian’.