Swell is a series of stools and benches which play with the conventional method of producing upholstered furniture.

Instead of moulding massive blocks of foam, cutting them down to size, gluing these separate pieces to a wooden frame and hand-sewing fabric on top, "Swell" combines several steps of production into one by using the fabric and frame as the original mold for the foam.

Produced upside-down, the fabric (moulded felt) is used as a bowl into which the liquid foam is poured, while the frame is suspended above in a jig. The foam slowly expands, rising out of the felt and through the form of the frame, binding the two components together.

This process results in fewer steps, less material and less time-consuming handwork. Because the foam fills the fabric, no material is wasted as cutoffs. Because the foam acts as a binding agent between the fabric and frame, no additional adhesives or sewing are necessary. Lastly, since the foam expands in a slightly different way each time, each piece is unique.

The Swell stools and benches are produced from moulded wool felt, an elm wood frame and expanding polyurethane foam.

Earnest Studio