People / Andrew Roberts
I'm Andrew Roberts, a New Zealand-born designer based in London. I design furniture and objects that sit between the practical and the sculptural. With a background in making, I'm interested in creating pieces with presence — forms that feel bold, tactile, and engaging while remaining functional and well made. My work explores the relationship between material, process, and form, creating objects that are both purposeful and visually compelling.
HMG (Heavy Metal Grasshopper)
Having always had easy access to a workshop and plenty of space back home in New Zealand, moving to London changed the way I could make. I still wanted to build furniture, but cost, tools, and a lack of a suitable workspace forced me to rethink my approach. This chair came directly from those constraints. Every part was considered through practical questions: Can I cut this tube once and use it as a slat? Can this flat bar be bent and used straight away? How can I make this with the least work, waste, and cost?
The only processes I couldn’t do in my flat were bending the steel and linishing the tubes. So, I carried the materials between my flat in Putney and Bloqs in Enfield via the District and Victoria lines to do the work – an experience that left my back feeling like it had been run over by a tractor.