Common Room
Daniel Schofield
Based in Copenhagen, British designer Daniel Schofield brings a complementary set of skills from his background in graphic design and carpentry to his practice as a furniture designer. He looks for – and finds – beauty in simplicity, creating highly rational pieces with elegant and enduring charm.
The concept behind ‘Common Room’ plays on the timber grade’s name while addressing a real need. As demand grows for flexible workspaces that balance productivity, community, and privacy, Schofield’s project asks: can simple, adaptable pieces meet the needs of this new way of working? Can the rich character of No.1 Common enhance wellbeing through a biophilic connection to nature?
Schofield used No.1 Common cherry wood to create a furniture family comprising a table, bench, stools, and screens of varying heights. With its natural variation – knots, colour shifts, and irregular grain – No.1 Common often requires more work to make it viable for large-scale production. Rather than hiding these characteristics, Schofield developed a system to embrace them. A simple yet effective approach to joining splits and patching knots maximises the potential of No.1 Common. The butterfly joint, traditionally sharp-edged in handcraft, was given rounded corners to speed up production and highlight its machine-made nature. This soft triangular form defined the collection’s design language, uniting function with expression.