Witt Design - contemporary eco friendly furniture.  Focus on - sustainability, design and quality.  Now wooden recreational rowing boats, with the same attention have been added to the offerings. 

Witt Design Pty Ltd began in 1984 under the name Flexidesk. We began at the inititiative of Allan Witt who started designing and making furniture in order to employ young people during a period of economic recession.  This worked well with the growing business supplying height adjustable furniture for government contracts for many years.  But more needed to be done to express the vision of a successful business with strong social and environmental committments.  Quoting Allan: "Increasingly, designers must make a significant and positive impact on our throw-away society.  Ideally, we will reach the point where each of us has a lesser number of material things - but each more beautiful, more enduring, more functional and more valued."  Consequently, Witt Design is increasingly focussed on product that embodies this vision and can be made available to people globally who demand that design and quality be coupled with long term sustainability.

 

Allan's experience in design came from a family obsession with designing and building boats. Allan and wife Jackie have designed many very successful pieces of furniture. One is the awarded Stave Stool which was selected as a permanent item for the Tasmanian Wood Design Collection.  In 2006, Allan won the Australian Wooden Boat Festival's design competition for a recreational rowing boat.  The Derwent Skiff was on display at the Festival Feb 2007.  Plans, kits and completed boats are now available from www.wittdesignwoodenboats.com 

   

 

Allan and Jackie work closely with a number of Tasmanian furniture designers and particularly with the Costello Design Studio. Principal designer Dr. Peter Costello gained international recognition with his Snap Chair and completed his doctoral work in furniture design in 2005. Both Peter and Allan have a keen interest in wood due to its natural beauty, warmth and light strength but also because its supply is managed sustainably in Tasmania - something that is very important to them both. Witt Design uses plywood extensively and use solid timber sparingly. We take care to reduce wastage and maximise the impact of superb selected veneers. Also, plywood is strong and stable across a wide range of climates.

 

 

Witt Design has evolved over the years from having its own factory to now having a network of highly specialised suppliers that are supported by designers and Witt Design's marketing.