Introducing Studio Haran and their sustainable lighting and furniture

Here we chat with Helena about the story of Studio Haran in more detail…

Can you tell us the backstory of Studio Haran? When and why was it started?

Studio Haran started back in 2014 by husband and wife team Helena and Joel. For the first 5 years, all of our projects were bespoke woodwork, anything from small coffee tables to wooden signage and even shop re-fits and trade stands. I (Helena) was passionate about ceramics and wanted to bring the fusion of wood and ceramics together.

We started with a simple wooden chopping board with a simple ceramic dipping dish in the corner. We loved the combination of the two natural materials and started to wonder what else we could create together. We figured lighting would be a good place to start so we created our first ever lighting product together ‘The Element Pendant’ which we are still selling to date.

The Element Pendant has a wooden cap covering the light fitting with a ceramic shade which can be glazed in a selection of different natural colour tones. From there, we expanded our collection to tables, floor and wall lamps alongside other pendant lighting.

What is unique about your brand?

All of the wood and ceramic pieces in our lighting are made in-house in our workshop in Cornwall, UK. We work with artisan craftsmen and women who are expertely skilled in helping us to create our lighting. The combination of wood and ceramic is really unique and very desireable for modern interiors.

We use a bespoke selection of glazes that can’t be sourced anywhere else in the UK, using earthy natural tones. Our speckled cream glaze in gloss or matt is one of our most popular colours suiting a wide variety of interiors. One of our personal favourites in the matt green glaze nicknames the ‘meadow green’ in the studio for its beautiful natural aesthetic.

How important is sustainability to your brand and the products you make?

Sustainability is very important to us. We try and source as much of our materials as we can from British sources and all of our timber is FSC certified.  We create lighting that will last a lifetime. We don’t follow trends or create new collections multiple times a year, our lights are an investment into your home that will withstand the test of time.

We recycle as much of our clay as possible, and try and utilise as much timber as possible too, using a CNC machine that helps us to get as much as possible out of our planks of wood and ensure very little precious timber is not wasted.

Take us through the collection design process and how you work with the materials and artisans?

We combine traditional methods with modern techniques to create our lighting collection.

Ceramics manufacturing process is as follows….

The ceramic shades are made using a technique called slip casting, where liquid clay is poured into plaster moulds and left to solidify around the edges. The excess is poured away and we are left with the form inside. The tops are trimmed so they are flat, then they are popped out of their moulds. Once they are dry, the edges are rounded.

We make our shades in batches often casting up to 20 moulds at a time. Once they are ready they go through their first firing in the kiln called bisque firing. This takes around 24hrs for the kiln to heat up to around 1000 degrees and cool down again. After they have been fired we then use a spray gun to spray liquid glaze onto the shades before they go in for their final firing up even higher to 1200 degrees where the glaze fuses to the ceramic and forms a waterproof coating.

Our glazes can be matt, glossy or satin matt and in a variety of colours. It takes a lot of skill to spray the glaze on perfectly so there is even coverage and thickness. Once they come out of the kiln again they are ready to be assembled with the wooden pieces and lighting fixtures.

Wood manufacturing process….

The wooden pieces are started on the CNC machine which is a machine that cuts out pieces of timber using a router piece. We load our designs onto a computer programme and the CNC machine follows the paths we have created to cut out our wood to the exact dimension that we specify. So, for example, for our Element pendant we cut out multiple caps at once to utilise most of the material.

Once the pieces are cut out, they are then loaded onto the lathe, one at a time, where one of our skilled craftsmen or women turn the piece using specific metal turning tools. The lathe spins the caps round very quickly and tools are used to smooth the caps down to the correct dimensions before sanding.

After the timber is smooth, a natural mineral oil is applied to stop the wood from cracking and moving in the dry heat of our homes. The wooden caps are then ready to be assembled with our ceramic shades to make beautifully unique lighting pieces.

What are some of the plans for near future…

We are going to be expanding our existing collection with a new large table lamp with a ceramic base and fabric shades. We are also hoping to release some new pendant and wall light shapes for spring 2025. We will be attending Clerkenwell Design Week from 20th – 22nd May, if you would like to come and see our lighting collection in person. We will be based in the ‘Light’ section in Clerkenwell Prison.

For more information please visit studioharan.co.uk

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