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Per Söderberg uses the Romans’ construction material for his latest exquisite table line
Massive, durable, and one-of-a-kind are how the Swedish designer describes travertine.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
22 Dec 2021

Söderberg tells how he fell in love with travertine when he studied and worked in Milan in the mid-90s.

— Many buildings in Milan are made in Travertine and the Romans used it as a construction material which is good proof of the material’s durability, he says, continuing,

— It’s kind of a mix of marble and limestone, or rather a different stone. Marble is a crystallized form of limestone and takes some extra millions of years to be formed, whereas travertine is older than limestone but has not yet become marble. Travertine has a lot of cavities which are natural parts of the stone. I think that, as well as the very particular beige colour, makes the stone unique and interesting.

The stone for Söderberg’s furniture line PS Bespoke Collection’s new table line is locally produced at a small family-owned stone producer in Södermanland, south of Stockholm, where the wood is produced at a cabinet maker.

— Both materials are massive and very durable and we use natural treatments like oil and soap for protection.

Lately, Söderberg has been working as an architect and interior designer on the restoration of a 18th century town house in central London, which also resulted in a new addition to his mentioned range.

— The house was once a private museum for the owner’s collection of antique marble statues and antique art and thus has a very interesting history. When the original owner passed away, his art collection was donated to the British Museum and the house became a private residence and later an office for one of Sweden’s most prominent business families. I am trying to restore the flare of the original interior and at the same time add contemporary elements. In the boardroom, which is one of the major rooms, I have designed an art wall where beautiful drawings of the antique marbles statues of heroes and deities that once inhabited the house are now up-scaled and printed on back-lit glass. I’ve also designed all the furniture for the room. The common thread in it is the colour green. The walls are painted in a soft green Farrow & Ball colour, the huge stone top for the conference table is in Italian green granite. I wanted the chairs to blend in this colour scheme,  so I created a new colourway for my PS Bespoke Chair 03 to add to the collection, Söderberg concludes.

PS Bespoke chair in walnut and green leather from Swedish Tärnsjö tannery