The Showroom

Dunstone Design's showroom is located on the corner of Townsville St and Albany St, Fyshwick, ACT (access off Townsville St) and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm (closed Sunday and Monday).

The Workshop
Dunstone Design's workshop is situated at Unit 2/5 Aurora Pl, Queanbeyan, NSW. The workshop is attended 7am to 5pm Tuesday to Friday (closed Saturday to Monday).

Dunstone Design's workshop occupies two adjacent units in a Queanbeyan industrial park. The workshop is a well equipped space with modern machinery and a wide selection of hand tools, while the showroom holds many examples of our work. We have a limited selection of "ready to buy" stock and most work is "made to order". We currently have a three month turn around for work, although this varies considerably depending on the size and complexity of the piece you have ordered. Unlike many studio furniture makers, Dunstone Design has the infrastructure to handle projects of all sizes with ease, on time.

Dunstone Design specializes in original contemporary chairs. No other form of furniture places such demands on the designer or the craftsman, nor gives such everyday familiar pleasure to the owner. A chair is a cradle for the body, an offering to a friend to be at ease. At a time when most furniture makers are avoiding chairs, Dunstone Design is excelling at them.

Commissions

Commissioned fine furniture is what Dunstone Design does best. The challenge of designing to a client's specific brief has inspired Evan and the team to some of their best work. A large portion of Dunstone Design's work, both domestic and commercial, is to commission.

Australians do not have a tradition of commissioning fine furniture. Those clients with the courage and faith to commission complex work are rewarded with original pieces that invariably out-shine standard products.

Evan Dunstone

Evan Dunstone is the driving force behind Dunstone Design. Evan was trained and mentored by David MacLaren of the World renowned Bungendore Wood Works Gallery. Evan created Dunstone Design in 1998 after David's workshop tragically burned down. For four and a half years Dunstone Design operated out of the excellent workshop of Uneke Furniture in Bungendore before setting up in Queanbeyan in October 2003.

Working wood and designing furniture is a holistic pursuit, much like playing music. There are techniques and rules, but the passion and feeling comes from within. These days, Evan sees himself increasingly as the conductor of the orchestra rather than the soloist. He hires talented makers who bring different skills to the team.

Churchill Fellowship

Evan's dedication to the craft was rewarded in 2001 with a Churchill Fellowship to study contemporary chair design and manufacture abroad. For ten weeks he traveled England and the USA visiting other Studio Furniture Makers, galleries, and museums, schools of fine woodworking and even the Royal Work shop s, London . He was exposed to some of the finest work in the world at a time when his own voice as a designer was just starting to mature.

Visiting Artist

Evan lectures at the Australian Shool of Fine Furniture, University of Launceston , Tasmania and has taught as a Visiting Artist at the Wood Work shop , NITA, Canberra School of Art, ANU. Dr Rodney Hayward , former Head of the Wood Workshop , has been a great influence and mentor to Evan and affected his attitudes to the craft.

The Team

 Alex MacFarlane

Alex joined the team in March of 2006. He had previously spent a year with a kitchen maker in his home town of Bathurst . He is a young bloke with a big passion for the craft, having stopped at nothing to get himself into a workshop that worked “real” wood. Alex has trained “in house” rather than going to TAFE, as we try to hone the training to suit our practice .

In 2007 Alex was awarded “Open Champion” at the Timber and Working With Wood Show for his Telephone Table in Victorian blackwood. This was a remarkable achievement as he was only 19 at the time, with less than 18 months training.

Rolf Barfoed

Rolf was trained by Queanbeyan restorer Anton Buchi and joined Dunstone Design in late 2008. Rolf was the Gold Medalist at the 2008 National Worldskills competition in cabinet making. He was only prevented from representing Australia by his age (he turned 23 a few months too early). He was awarded the “Cabinet Maker's Award for Excellence” by the CIT and is the recipient of an Australian Overseas Foundation grant to work and study overseas.

Rolf worked for Richard Williams in Amersham, England for twelve months and returned to Dunstone Design in June of 2010.

Daniel Mansson

Daniel trained under Evan at the Australian School of Fine Furniture, University of Tasmania , Launceston. He is originally from Sweden (what is it about those Swedes?) and moved to Canberra with his wife, Roe, to take up the job. He works closely with Alex making chairs. Dan has the difficult task of learning all of Alex's tricks and keeping up with “The Little Master”.

Shaun Read

Shaun has a long history as a highschool industrial arts teacher and can turn his hand to just about anything practical. He has a long standing interest in furniture and for a long while ran an antique business with his wife and sister in Gunning, NSW.

Shaun has worked as a shearer, built his own stone house, playes a mean game of Polocross and grows much of his own food. His capacity and enthusiasm for all things furniture and "hands on" is a delight.