wool, wood, and beeswax shape burel factory's organic furniture

rui tomás & local artisans craft furniture for burel factory

Portuguese brand Burel Factory launches a collection of three organic furniture pieces, comprising a bookshelf, a screen, and an armchair, designed by Rui Tomás. The creations are rooted in the brand’s core principles of organic design, utilization of natural materials, and collaboration with local artisans, revealing curving forms, simple geometries, and vibrant hues. The furniture pieces have been crafted entirely from natural wool, oak wood, and hand-applied beeswax, bringing the essence of nature directly into our living spaces. Their low-tech construction and minimalist finish, composed of only few components, enables them to be easily disassembled, transported, and reused, prolonging their lifecycle. Each piece additionally offers a customizable palette of either colors of type of fabric, ensuring ensuring versatility and diversity.

Rui Tomás with Ilha Bookshelf | all images courtesy of the author

organic forms in natural materials enable customizability

The Biombo Onda room divider, crafted from traditional raw materials with local craftsmanship, can easily be moved around to mark quiet zones. The screen is inspired by the acoustic performance of the curtains from which it is made from, which can absorb 95% of sound. Awarded the Reddot Award in 2023, it is versatile and adaptable to various environments, including living areas, hospitality projects, or indoor work zones. Easy to transport in a disassembled state, and compact for storage, this piece embodies eco-friendliness throughout its lifecycle, with materials suitable for recycling. Additionally, Rui Tomás and Burel Factory integrate a mountable/removable system with very few components, employing low-tech production methods. Its construction wholly incorporates natural materials including wool fabric and oak wood, finished in an age-old manner through hand-applied beeswax.

Paying homage to the raw material that gives it life, the Cadeirão Pad armchair features simple geometric shapes and integrates into domestic, professional, or hospitality environments. Designed with a focus on comfort, the armchair requires no ottoman or footstool due to its proximity to the floor. The Estante Ilha bookshelf draws inspiration from the idea that furniture elements can be personalized through color and adjusted to individual needs. With a system of shelves of varying heights, users can conceal or reveal items by adjusting the burel fabric blinds running around the perimeter on rails. Instead of being used next to a wall, the bookshelf can then be placed in the center of a space, serving as a functional divider.

natural materials including wool, fabric, and oak wood finish the bookshelf

simple components and organic forms

PAD Armchair, covered in Burel

Onda Screen at Burel Factory

variations of the shelf

Yellow Screen

project info:

name: Burel Factory
designer: Rui Tomás

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom