Tasmanian timber is a thing of beauty.

Phil Vanier’s leap from television commercials producer to furniture and cabinetry maker is about as big as it gets. But dig a little deeper and you start to uncover a common thread – a passion for craft, be it tangible or digital.

Forming what was once part of Tasmania’s largest industrial site, Launceston’s Inveresk area is fast becoming the beating, cultural heart of the city. The redevelopment of the precinct area is the single largest infrastructure investment in the city’s history, and as part of the University of Tasmania’s transition to the area, the latest project to be unveiled is the new Inveresk Library.

Melbourne design week is an annual showcase of the best collectible contemporary design in Australia. It is the event for Australia’s leading designers to exhibit their work. Within the many exhibits Friends and Associates curated a collection of works around the narrative self-portrait – inviting 22 leading creatives to ‘tell us who they are in this moment’ representing themselves in a single project. Jon Goulder and Henry Williams chose Cusp CLT to design a minimalist table to showcase a collection of ceramics and tableware – “a grown-up response to a world where there is too much design”.

Several countries were so impressed by Cusp at Expo 2020 Dubai that the innovative Tasmanian timber company has been invited to speak at international forums tasked with looking at the decarbonisation of building materials.