who:

My name is Barry Archer and I have a problem…

During my time in school I found the daily grind of the same lessons extremely dull and it was only the break of the art class that I found any sort of satisfaction.

After finishing school I then went on to study industrial design at National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and graduated in 2000. It was a nice course and gave me a good grounding and taught me to think sideways. Things really started to make sense for me when we went from the sketch pad to the workshop to prototype the idea. That’s when I really felt my skills were coming. I’ve always been interested in how stuff works, it goes back to my first car when I was 16. I took the whole thing apart and put it back together – the head gasket blew up so I built the engine again. From this point I understood where I needed to be. I needed to be in a workshop messing around breaking things and fixing things. I can’t help myself, it’s an addiction. This addiction has led me to working for myself so I can still continue on this course of making, creating, learning and breaking. Furniture making spans a great variety of materials, making techniques and this is what keeps me interested. Making and creating keeps me motivated, constantly learning and improving keeps the business moving forward and I hope this is reflected in the range of work we do.

what:

We created Wedge in 2005 (Myself and the great Robert Hennesey, who now lives in Japan) because we wanted to make products we love. At Wedge we offer a combination of simple, clever design and hardwearing beautiful materials. Products which we can stand over.

We take great satisfaction in creating a piece of furniture for somebody’s home or business. Every project starts with a blank piece of paper and a conversation with the customer. From this we get to understand what exactly the client needs. It could be as simple as shelves for an awkward space or a free standing cabinet or a dining table, what matters is getting to understand the customer’s taste needs and expectations.

why:

We don’t think people necessarily need more ‘stuff’. We focus on creating stand alone pieces - products you’ll have for a lifetime. We love seeing how a single clever piece can transform a space.

Every product or item is made and assembled by hand in our workshop. Every piece is made to look good function well and with a little care, last a lifetime.