An inherent appreciation for Victoria’s coastal landscape and ancient forest has defined Kett Furniture since it was established by Australian designer Justin Hutchinson in 2017. We explore how four Kett pieces express a distinctly Australian identity through the Elwood Home by Fieldwork Architects, which features the recently launched Erskine collection.
Founded by Australian designer Justin Hutchinson in Melbourne, Kett realises the mission to design and manufacture furniture locally using authentic materials. Translating natural Australian landscapes into furniture collections, the Kett story manifests ‘a distillation of oceans, cities, mountains and deserts, complex in light, colour, texture and form’.
The inaugural release of Kett’s indoor and outdoor collections marked a celebration of the Victorian coastline along the Great Ocean Road and into the Great Otway National Park through recognisable landmarks – Addis, Aireys, Johanna, Otway and Wye. Kett recently added the Erskine collection to their offering, inspired by the Erskine Falls in Victoria’s Otway Ranges.
The Erskine collection debuts in the Elwood Home by Fieldwork Architects, a project that recognises ‘Australian landscapes and creatives’. With Kett furniture front and centre, the home also showcases Australian lighting from Rakumba, bed linen from In the Sac, and Australian art and ceramics from Boom Gallery and Ghost Wares. Stepping inside four spaces in the Elwood Home, we see how Kett pieces, including the new Erskine sofa, reflect the Australian way of life through aesthetics and ethos.
Produced in partnership with Cosh Living
The Elwood Home by Fieldwork Architects features the newly released Erskine sofa and coffee table by Justin Hutchinson for Kett. Artwork by Kasper Raglus and Anita Beaney.
Erskine Sofa
Erskine Falls is located off Victoria’s Great Ocean Road near Lorne, where the Otway Ranges meets the ocean. The 30-metre waterfall is carved into the tree-fern gully and takes its name from the Erskine river that cascades down the rockface, flowing year-round due to high rainfall.
The waterfall’s natural beauty inspired the recently launched Erskine collection by Justin Hutchinson for Kett. A series of generous sofas and refined coffee and side tables, each piece in the collection hones soft lines and gentle curves, as seen in the sofa’s rounded legs. Likewise, the Erskine sofa’s sculpted arms draw on the waterfall’s ‘natural curvilinear forms’, while Australian wool boucle upholstery with French seams calls on the soft clouds and valley mist that carries through the Otway Ranges.
The Wye barstools powder coated in a eucalyptus tone by Justin Hutchinson for Kett at the granite kitchen island bench in the Elwood Home, featuring ceramics by Melbourne maker Ghost Wares.
Wye Barstool
The Wye collection by Justin Hutchinson for Kett is inspired by Wye River, located further along the Great Ocean Road, where the river carves a line through the land to the sea. The Wye River beach is also known for its rock formations and steep rainforest backdrop. The Wye barstool is emblematic of the scenery’s flowing lines with no beginning or end and precise intersections.
Comprising of a powder-coated stainless steel rod frame with a leather or fabric cushion, the Wye barstool can be specified for the kitchen or outdoor bar. In the Elwood Home by Fieldwork Architects, the Wye barstool brings its affinity with the Australian landscape to the granite kitchen, coated in a eucalyptus tone with buttery leather upholstery.
The Forrest outdoor sofa is at home among the treetops at the Elwood Home by Fieldwork Architects.
Forrest Outdoor Sofa
Situated inland within Victoria’s Otway Ranges hinterland, the rural township of Forrest is known for its mountain biking trails. It’s also home to Lake Elizabeth, surrounded by dense forest with towering eucalypts. Lake Elizabeth features manna gum trunks that majestically punctuate the still water – a beautiful location defined by its quietness.
Justin Hutchinson designed the Forrest outdoor furniture collection to convey a sense of place through its ‘delicate timber features and sweeping curves’. The Forrest outdoor sofa in the Elwood Home is made from a solid teak frame, powder-coated aluminium and hand-woven UV stable rope backrests. Designed to embrace the elements, the Forrest outdoor sofa cushions are made from foam and Dacron for breathability and drainage.
The Otway bed and night table by Justin Hutchinson for Kett in the Elwood Home.
Otway Bed
Tracing Victoria’s dramatic coastline, the Great Otway National Park’s ‘towering mountain ash, fern gullies and forest canopies’ inspired Justin Hutchinson’s Otway Collection. The collection features ‘a soft timber profile and elegant proportions’ – characteristics that define the Otway dining tables, sideboards, beds and side tables. The Otway bed is made in Melbourne, with a curved bedhead upholstered in customisable fabric or leather.
In the Elwood Home by Fieldwork Architects, the bedhead is upholstered in fabric with aniline leather piping that speaks to the earthen layering of oatmeal linen from In the Sac and ceramics by Melbourne Maker Ghost Wares. Two Otway night tables in oak, stained in ‘Light Walnut’, visually link to the location that inspired them.
