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A low, integrated table‑and‑chairs set, hand‑built in Hackney Wick from British‑sourced materials, with a speaker and soft lighting tucked into its core.
On a spring night high at 22 Bishopsgate, a small crowd leaned in around a low, suede‑wrapped table as music rose from its center. Forestalgia calls the piece Modular 001 (M.001)—a compact “bring‑people‑together” set that nests three asymmetric chair units and a bench around a circular table. The frame is foam and wood under vegan suede with a polished glass top; mood‑light panels wash the base; a portable, battery‑powered speaker sits at the heart like a campfire. It’s hand‑built in London, with materials sourced from British makers stretching from Nottingham to Cornwall, and it reads the way good gathering places do: clear, warm, and easy to approach.
M.001 takes its stance from floor‑level traditions. The table sits low to encourage closeness, nodding to chabudai and horigotatsu settings where knees bend, voices drop, and time slows. Each seat slides neatly into the table’s profile, so the whole thing compacts when not in use and opens quickly when friends arrive. Forestalgia’s founder and creative director, Emmanuel Lawal, frames the project as a response to a line he once heard—don’t expect a seat if you don’t bring anything to the table. The piece flips that script: it literally makes room, invites you in, and lets sound and light do the hosting. As a concept it’s simple—see, hear, touch—but the intention is social more than tech‑driven, designed for galleries, homes, workspaces, hotels, anywhere a quick circle can spark conversation.
Look closer and the references line up. The suede skin and low, generous silhouette nod to African and mid‑century influences Lawal admires; the overall geometry mirrors Forestalgia’s abstract mark. The launch at Gordon Ramsay Restaurants’ site atop 22 Bishopsgate underlined the point: design as a place to connect, not a pedestal. Forestalgia bills this as its first solo product development, a multi‑sensory piece that feels as comfortable in public as it does at home. There’s a sincerity to the setup—local fabrication, a portable sound source, lighting you can tune—that keeps the focus on people in the room. In short: a table for more than dining, a small hub for ideas, stories, and shared time.
Photography by George William Vicary.
