Our design philosophy at Autonomous, held by our Lead Designer, Kirk Van Ludwig, is that our pieces blend clean, uncluttered form with well planned and executed function. The process removes non-essentials, and passes the focus to purpose, which leads to engineering that creates the appearance of as little design as possible. We believe in stripping away non-essentials, leaving behind a beautiful furniture piece that fits into its environment unobtrusively, making its statement through its pure organic beauty.

One of the world's best known Industrial Designers of his time, Dieter Rams, said "Good design is as little design as possible", and we couldn't agree more. The irony here is of course that producing something with what appears to be little design, is often more work. Isn't that always the way? Wearing makeup without looking made up, hosting a dinner party without looking like it took a lot of work (meanwhile you spent all day cleaning and preparing food!) ... these are examples of what it can take to look effortless.

Take our Kai Series for example, Kirk incorporates solid Douglas Fir laminations as the clean-lined tabletop juxtaposing black powder-coated metal legs, set on the table's end to maximize seating arrangements. The Kai Series balances proportions - the thickness of the metal legs match the tabletop, creating a seamless table. Nothing more, nothing less. Although very simple by design, in fact, the curve and grade of board, all sourced from sustainably-managed forests, is chosen specifically for placement on the piece. The laminations are bonded together using strong, waterproof adhesives, and finished using a natural hardwax oil specially formulated to be water repellent and dirt resistant, ensuring a durable furniture piece meant to be lived-in.

Kirk continues the Kai Series collection with the addition of a matching dining bench, and larger entryway bench (pictured above).

Adding a touch of understated grandeur to the collection, Kirk designed the Kai Luminous Table to take the original Kai Table to the next level with its addition of a clear acrylic frame. This adds the possibility of a personalized touch, perfect for a boardroom table, incorporating a company logo engraved on the underside of the acrylic frame at opposing edges.

Our Kai Sit-to-Stand Desk incorporates the Douglas Fir tabletop into an innovative desk, with refined knife edge detailing, that moves up to a standing position and down to a sitting position at the press of a button. 

Finally, our Kai Long Table continues its design focus on proportions, in keeping with our other Kai Series tables, balancing the width of the steel legs and the thickness of the tabletop. This table provides a communal workspace for either a home or commercial space.

Well-thought out design, creating simply beautiful furniture, suitable for a variety of design aesthetics.

Lifestyle photos by Jody Beck of Modern Home Victoria.

Sometimes we hold onto things in our lives, and we don't know why at the time, but we know that one day, we'll be really glad we did.  This happens to us at Autonomous frequently, as curators of very special wood, we often find ourselves holding onto special pieces of wood without a plan for it.

In walks a client looking for something unique, something unseen before, something to fit in their art decorated condominium. Our Lead Designer, Kirk, gets to work.  One home visit and many questions later, a design is made around that special piece that we had been holding onto.

The history of our curation started back in 2009 with Kirk seeing something unique about this piece of gnarly maple left over from a cut at a privately managed wood lot in the Cowichan Valley, on Vancouver Island, BC.

And then the piece sat ... awaiting a brighter future to demonstrate its beauty.

A piece of spalted maple, Slab 192 as it had become known, to be set on three curved concrete legs, spaced to follow the natural curves of the tabletop and grain, using a high-performance concrete that allowed us to keep it very thin and sleek. Kirk worked with Nolan from Szolyd, a Victoria-based precast concrete company, on the engineering of the legs using Ductal UHPC, given its suitable characteristics to our desired design, namely superior strength, durability and design flexibility. The end result was 1/2-inch thick curved legs, a difficult feat when using concrete.

The placement of the legs create both tension and flow, while allowing light and energy to flow through.  This resulted in a modern, sculptural, yet natural edge coffee table that will age gracefully in a home filled with other special art pieces.

Here is Table 192 looking rather dashing in its new home.

Are we glad we kept this piece for all that time? You bet. And now we're taking a fresh look at our inventory to see what else is meant to be set on concrete.

Below photo courtesy of Jody Beck from Modern Home Victoria.

It's not often a client asks for a table with multiple purposes that span disciplines. We're accustomed to considering dining table leg placement and the addition of AV equipment portals to boardroom tables. This particular request definitely broadened our table design repertoire.  

Leap Web Solutions is one of Victoria's hottest creative design and web development firms, located in Market Square. The Leap team wanted a boardroom table to complement their ultra-cool brick walls and open high ceiling interior space - and act as their table tennis for their creative downtime.  We hear their matches get pretty competitive, and can't wait to stop in for a game ourselves.

The table designed for them is Douglas Fir laminations, with a clear acrylic frame inlayed into the tabletop, allowing for net attachment, the table set on sturdy black powder-coated steel legs. The acrylic frame is personalized with their company name engraved on the under side at opposing edges. 

We've heard that Leap owner Neil is undefeated on this table to date, and we couldn't be happier for him!

As we gear up to ring in the New Year, The Autonomous team is busy with a few projects making our entrance into 2015 pretty exciting. We wanted to give you a sneak peak of these projects, poised to make a splash in the new year:

Insurance Office Sheds Any Stereotype of a Dull Space 

Local entrepreneur and insurance solution's office is launching a combined hub for independent financial professionals in Victoria.   The owner has enviable style, and looked no further than featuring an Autonomous live edge reception desk, boardroom table, unique stair treads, and a few custom designed meeting tables, dubbed our 'Encounter table' (we're pretty sure these will be available in store after their debut here!).

We're proud of the partnership with Monk Office Interiors, showcasing Herman Miller furniture and DIRTT Environmental Solutions featuring moveable walls.

Redesigning a Microprintery Retail Space

Victoria's hippest printshop, Metropol, is looking for a new, more functional space for one of their prime Victoria locations, and our in-house designers are working through a refit of the space to meet their needs and hit the mark of a space cool enough to be called a 'microprintery'.

Stay tuned for a look at these completed projects in 2015.  Wishing you and yours a happy New Year!

Ever wonder who makes the products that live in your home? Do you ever ponder the travels that those products have made before becoming apart of your home?

Well, we do.

It may be our knowledge seeking culture these days or pure curiosity that probes us to wonder these things, but either way, we like the products that become part of our home to have a story.  Such is the case with the Rested Table. 

After six years air drying, this Western Maple slab underwent countless hours of labour by our very own Kirk Van Ludwig, who had sourced the slab itself from the Lake Cowichan area of Vancouver Island, BC.

The end result is a table top as smooth as butter, and almost iridescent in its natural sheen. The contrasting sides of the slab - one curving around its seating area, the other straight - rest on steel plate legs.

Visit our showroom to see this piece for yourself (it begs to be touched!) or view it on our web store.