10 QUESTIONS WITH GINA & LEAH FROM SLABS BY DESIGN

Feature Interview

Surry Hills, NSW, Australia

Slabs By Design is a Sydney-based studio that designs and produces polished concrete furniture for commercial and residential projects. Working on decorating her own home, founder of Slabs By Design, Gina Chapman was unable to find a statement concrete dining table to be the centrepiece of her living room, so she created her own. She started the business to help others who are in the market for furniture made with the favourite material, concrete combined with steel or reclaimed timber. The clean aesthetic is achieved by working primarily with a grey-white colour scheme.

Gina, a design graduate from The International School of Colour and Design, says that she loves concrete and everything it has to offer. She believes the space that surrounds us needs to be inspiring, warm and comfortable. 

gives everyone access to this material at a more affordable price-point.  Furniture, lighting and custom pieces are all available for purchase and can be seen on display in their Surry Hills showroom.

Tell us about your design studio; where are you based, how long have you been there, and what is your specialty or signature style?

Slabs by Design was established by Gina Chapman three years ago and has recently teamed up Leah Taylor from the Minimalist in a shared and newly set up 100-year-old terrace in Surry Hills.

Modern and minimal in style with a (mostly) monochrome palette, the space has been designed to showcase unique finds and beautiful industrial style concrete furniture. We also offer custom designs to tailor to our customer’s individual needs.

Tell us about the pieces you produce; what are your main influences and how did you incorporate these into the design?

The main influence was from my own home, I had this concrete piece that I was in love with and wanted to have more concrete furnishing in our home. However, there was nothing affordable out there so the idea evolved to create beautifully crafted concrete pieces that people could afford to have in their own spaces.

Do you have specific techniques in the design process?

As we don’t use any high tech design programs, we start all of our products with free-hand sketching. When we create the concrete slabs we work closely with the manufacture on creating different textures and tones- this could be a really smooth finish or a more bubbled surface.

You recently released some new pieces; can you tell us a bit about them?

A coffee table and side table made from concrete and solid brass legs. These pieces are inspired by the play of juxtaposition. Round peg in a square hole concept- the brass legs are circular but with square ends!

What are your favourite aspects about being a designer? Are there many challenges?

The freedom to be creative and watch an idea come to life. Being able to pull together ideas with storyboards and sketches, and then seeing this birthed into creation. Also, the satisfaction when a customer picks up their custom-made piece and you see the expression on their face of how happy they are with the final result.

With all things come some challenges, sometimes things don’t go entirely to plan in the production or a concept may not work as well as you hoped for. However, with these challenges you not only learn more about yourself but it also charges your creativity and matures you as a designer. You discover more ways to find solutions and a lot of the time the result ends up being better than you expected.

What are your inspirations when creating new pieces? Do you have a favourite designer that influences you?

I find a lot of my inspiration in London architecture, I just love the textures, forms and shapes in a lot of buildings. We are also influenced by many different artists and designers that showcase clean, minimalistic aesthetics and have great attention to detail. Monochrome colours with pops of interesting tones and soft colours.

How do you see the furniture design industry right now, are there any shifts or changes you’ve noticed?

I believe the furniture industry is changing all the time with new trends and concepts of sustainable living for customers. Your home and work spaces are your sanctuary. Today, people want to be in a space that inspires and truly reflects their style. The shift is not so much in just design but catering for more individual needs and being able to custom design to these.

Do you feel mass media and social platforms like Instagram are influencing the furniture industry, or even your own designs?

Definitely, with social media there is more access to great images and inspiration. You have easier access to global trends, also you can see what people are tagging, pinning and posting, which allows designers in the industry to see what consumers are after.

Do you think that our surroundings influence how we live, work, or play?

The relationship between furniture and interactivity is so important; the places we work and live in should make us feel inspired. Having comfortable furniture to live and work is equally important as setting up an environment that is aesthetically pleasing for other to enjoy. People want to feel warm, comfortable and happy in a space, and how this is styled is crucial to our experience.

What materials do you enjoy working with and why?

At Slabs By Design we use mostly concrete, glass, timber and steel.  These materials used together create warmth and beautiful texture to concrete, with a versatility of colours and extra details in the final piece.

We can do special finishes to the steel used which also inspires us in the design process as we want to give clients a broad spectrum of finishes and looks to their furniture. This could be creating something very smooth and clean or more industrial with raw finishes to the welding of steel and markings in timbers.

How does manufacturing locally affect your design process and final product?

Producing locally is one of Slabs By Design main points of difference. We pride ourselves on using 100% concrete, and with our manufacturers so close we can create a close relationship with them as well as having a more ‘hands on’ involvement in the product.

Why is furniture important to our daily lives?

Furniture is design and design plays a crucial role because we interact with it in all areas of our lives every single day. Good design makes easy living, so we need to ensure that we are creating comfortable and aesthetically pleasing pieces that make living easy for customers as well as look beautiful in their space.

Head to Slabs By Design‘s Designer Profile to see their latest furniture pieces or to get in touch for a custom design consultation!