Grace's Design Work Receives Due Praise

We are delighted to announce Bablake's 2017 winner of a Design Technology competition sponsored by the Furniture Makers’ Company is Upper Sixth student Grace Jastrzebski. She will receive her book prize shortly.

Mr Chris West, Head of Design Technology, while relaying news of the win, asked Grace to describe her project in a little more detail and she replied: 

"I designed my coffee table to fit our lounge area at home as a central piece, but it could easily be moved to the side when not in use. It was also important to my family that we used materials which were either recycled or sustainable.

I was fortunate that Bablake's Science laboratories were being refurbished, as I was able to freecycle some of their iroko wood. This material is from the 1930s and, best of all, had the marks and damage sustained from years of science experiments which has given the wood colour and patina. 

After stripping the wood back, I oiled it to restore the grain and rich colour. Some of the steel in the frame was recycled from an previous A level project which never went home, while I hand cut finger joints on the corners of the frame and used a mechanism to add a lift up section. 

My family is thrilled with the result and looks forward to having this item back home, once the project has been moderated and displayed at our Art and Design Technology exhibition on Thursday 22nd June."

Mr West added that Grace won the prize for producing a quality piece of work which stretched her practical abilities and took her into areas she had not worked in before. In addition to making a high quality outcome, her folder work was truly outstanding and showed excellent attention to detail, flair and creativity. 

At the start of the year, Grace was uncertain about which creative route to take, since she is an outstanding actor too, but the verve of her Upper Sixth Design Technology course has steered her towards a degree studying Furniture  Design and Manufacture.