In Scotland, the exceptional craftsmanship of the Chippendale International School of Furniture

The place looks like a postcard picture. Just a few kilometers from Edinburgh, in the Scottish countryside, a small road lined with fields and green meadows leads to the Chippendale International School of Furniture, specializing in furniture manufacturing and design since 1985. As soon as you enter, the decor is unmistakable: a series of locally produced wooden planks are drying in the open air, soon to be worked, cut, and shaped by the school’s students. Here, nothing is left to chance. The director, Tom Fraser, emphasizes the importance of choosing and respecting materials, as well as the durability of the furniture created. “Today, there are very fast ways to make mass-produced furniture, which generally does not last over time. Our goal, on the contrary, is to create unique pieces that can be passed down from generation to generation. If a family ever has to fight over an inheritance, it might as well be for one of our furniture pieces!” the thirty-something director adds with a laugh.

Business is bustling in the spacious workshop located in a renovated 19th-century agricultural building, entirely refurbished by the school’s founder and Tom’s father, Anselm Fraser. Surrounded by the enveloping smells of sawdust and wood, with the background noise of drills whistling, some students focus on the final details of a piece of furniture they have entirely handcrafted, which they have imagined themselves and have been working on for nearly two months. All of them are enrolled in the thirty-week program that has made the school’s reputation: in this very short period of time, they learn the fundamentals of carpentry, how to use machines, different finishing techniques, as well as how to create a series of imposed furniture pieces and design their own creations.