My swatch box started with three samples: black slate, blackened steel and a tin of ink. Today it holds forty-one, and I still find new blacks on every site visit.
Black absorbs, black reflects
Under a warm 2,700 kelvin lamp, black lime plaster turns the colour of wet earth. Smoked oak goes almost red. Blackened bronze becomes a mirror for anything bright in the room.
The darkest room in a project is usually the one guests remember.
We test every material at night, at the light level the room will really have. A sample that looks severe at noon often becomes the softest thing in the space after dark.
Black lime plaster, burnished by hand
Smoked and oiled oak
Patinated bronze and blackened brass
If you visit the studio, ask to see the box. It lives on the model table under one small lamp.
