Chamfer: Designed to Layer Timber and Light
Indirect lighting is having its moment. At the end of the day, when we settle in for the evening, the downlights stay off and we reach for the lights that wash the walls and ceilings. Chamfer was designed for exactly that. Three fine layers of timber sit in front of the light source and work like louvres, so the glare stays hidden and the light spreads evenly across the wall. Switch it on and the layers look as though they’re hovering just off it.
Timber is personal for Luke Mills, South Drawn’s design director. He started his design career in furniture, working predominantly with timber, and it’s the organic side of the material that keeps bringing him back, the way the grain changes from one species to the next. Chamfer adds to our growing portfolio of timber designs.
Chamfer started to take shape in our R&D workshop, layering pieces of timber and working through complicated offsets and shapes. Single layers, three layers, organic layers. What came out the other side was the simplest version of the idea. “As often happens with my process, it’s the most refined version of the original concept,” Luke says. A clean rectangle that shows the timber, layered so the light washes up the wall and onto the ceiling.
The name sits in the detail. Each layer is finished with a 1.5 mm chamfered edge, a hairline that breaks up the form and keeps it fine. The layers sit 7 mm apart and the whole piece is around 40 mm deep, so it holds close to the wall while still letting light out between each layer. The timbers we have selected are American walnut, American white oak and our local Australian blackbutt. Each is an A-grade veneer on high-quality ply from local suppliers, finished with a natural oil.
Chamfer never shows you the light source. The layers sit in front of it, so what reaches you has already landed on the wall or the ceiling. Glare comes down to contrast, and a bright source in a dim room is what makes lighting feel hard at night. Chamfer works the other way around. The wall does the work and the room softens without losing brightness, which is why a pair in a hallway or a bedroom sits so well in the evening.
You can’t see the light unit, and it is where a good deal of the work has gone. We specify high grade LEDs and assemble the engineered unit in house, built so it can be serviced and keep working for the life of the fitting. The unit installs first and the timber goes on last, which keeps the timber clear of the build. Rated IP44, Chamfer can go into interiors and bathrooms. Keep the timber away from direct water, the same as you would any piece of timber furniture.
Chamfer is made to order in three timber finishes, with a six week lead time.
