Case Study: Custom king
For over four years, internationally renowned San Diego-based custom furniture designer and maker Jamie Huffman has embraced the element of fire, working closely with EcoSmart Fire to incorporate fire design into his stunning custom furniture pieces.
I use EcoSmart Fire burners because they’re beautifully and thoughtfully designed, well-built and clean burning which embodies the sustainability values I adhere to in my work.” - Jamie Huffman, Furniture Designer
“The biggest benefit to me is freedom. Because EcoSmart Fires are clean burning, I can design for any space, indoors and out, and the product variety allows for nearly limitless design options for fireplace furniture. They really are the best of their kind on the market.”
La Jolla
Jamie’s design, innovation, and fabrication company Surface Furniture was recently engaged by Safdie Rabines Architects to design specific custom furniture pieces, including a dining table and bedside tables, for a stunning new house to be built overlooking the Pacific Ocean at La Jolla, California.
At the heart of the new home, Jamie was also tasked with creating a fireplace centrepiece in the main living area to sculpturally define and celebrate the clients’ modern sensibilities. And the result is impressive: two fire tables - one interior and one exterior - separated by vast sliding glass doors that open up the facade of the house to the expansive ocean views.
“The house layout is designed to blur the lines between the exterior and the interior, and the positioning of the fireplaces accentuates this aspect of the architecture,” says Jamie.
Jamie incorporated two XL700 EcoSmart Fire burners into lightweight fibre-reinforced concrete matched to the colour and texture of the floor tiles to give the impression of being pulled upward. And according to Jamie, the architecture and the client were the inspiration for the design.
“The fire pits are an extrusion of the architecture, and an extension of the clients who are not only minimalists, modernists, and art lovers, but whose gracious and warm-hearted nature draws family and friends close to them,” he explains.
“The fireplace furniture embodies this sense of community and fellowship, as fire tends to do, and is as much a piece of art as those that surround them.
“The clients couldn’t be happier. I love that they appreciate this piece as much as they do and that it’s part of the larger picture - part of the architecture of a house that truly exemplifies its inhabitants. Without the design freedom of EcoSmart Fire, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we did for this project, or have the impact that the design has on the space.”
Information
- Country: United States
- Specifier: Furniture Designer
- Photographer: Jen Jansen