This story begins with an idea. My clients had a first floor bar area that needed a real centrepiece, and I introduced them to one of Tom Faulkner's consoles, the Eclipse. I wanted to imagine it taller and longer, as a breakfast and drinks table. In April 2025 I took them to the Tom Faulkner workshop in Wiltshire to see how it would be made.
Making the mock-up
A console is designed to stand against a wall, so changing its height and length changes the whole piece. With something as sculptural as the Eclipse, you can't judge that from a drawing. The Tom Faulkner team kindly sent me scaled drawings of the design, so I printed each panel at full size, numbered them, traced them onto cardboard and cut out every curve by hand. Folded together, the panels gave us the base at its new size.
Then I set it up in situ in the bar area with a top in place, alongside my clients' bar stools. They could walk round it, sit at it and see how the cut-out shapes looked against the glass and the view beyond. Only then did we go to see the real thing being made.
Arriving in Wiltshire
The workshop sits on what was once Isambard Kingdom Brunel's railway works. It's a huge, light-filled space with the TF monogram on the old stone wall. Almost everything in the collection is made by hand here, and Tom is committed to keeping manufacturing in the UK.
The metal workshop
Welders, finishers, painters and cabinet makers all work under one roof, and several of the team have been with Tom for decades. You can see that experience in how calmly and precisely they work.
Every piece starts life as raw steel, cut, shaped and welded by hand. Even before a finish goes on, you can see the strong silhouettes Tom is known for.
The Eclipse base in raw steel
This was the moment my clients had been waiting for: the design we had tried in cardboard, now in steel. Seeing the cut-out curves at full size, with the light coming through them, made the mock-up feel very worthwhile.
Once a piece is welded it moves on to be finished. Most of the steel furniture is powder coated, which is tough and gives a clean, even surface, and then cured in the drying room.
The wood workshop
Alongside the metalwork there's a bright, well-equipped wood workshop, where the cabinet makers produce the tops and timber elements, so the whole piece comes together under one roof.
How the pieces are finished
The specialist finishes are a different story. They are built up by hand, layer by layer, to give the antique bronze and gold effects Tom is known for. Seeing the Eclipse base in its finished bronze, after the raw steel, the difference was remarkable.
The finishing studio
Every finish is tested on sample boards before it goes near a piece of furniture. Walls of samples, mood boards and stone offcuts make this the part of the visit every designer will love. It's also where clients can choose the exact finish for their own piece.
Finished pieces
The tour ended among finished and nearly finished pieces being carefully wrapped and crated, ready to be shipped all over the world. There were sculptural side tables and chairs in antique gold and bronze. Tom's work has won international awards, and seeing it up close, it's easy to see why.
The Eclipse was there too in its original form, a glass-topped console, the piece where this whole story started.
Why I take clients to see things made
A cardboard mock-up tells you about size and proportion. A visit like this tells you about quality, finish and the people behind the piece. My clients loved the day, and it meant that whatever they decided, they decided with everything in front of them. For a piece of furniture at this level, that's how it should be.
A huge thank you to Sally, who showed us round, and to the whole Tom Faulkner team. They are an amazing group of people and made us so welcome.
If you're planning a kitchen, dining room or living space and would like a piece of furniture that will be the heart of the room, I'd love to hear about it.