Jack Trench

What is your design background and how was Jack Trench born?
I studied industrial design at university and on graduating, worked as a technical draughtsman at an architectural practice. During this time, I was lucky enough to buy my first home – the property was a total wreck and needed to be overhauled from top to bottom. It was this experience which sparked a passion for interior spatial design and bespoke joinery. From here, I set up Jack Trench Ltd in 2003 and since then we have grown from a small joinery workshop to our current factory and studio premises in North London where we have been based since 2006. Our central London showroom is in Clerkenwell, where we have a selection of ‘JT Design’ bespoke kitchens and furniture on display.

How do you approach a new design project and what makes you different from other design studios?
Our approach is firstly to understand the client, this is hugely important to us. We drink lots of tea together and ask questions about how they want to live in their kitchen space and what they are like as people: for example, whether they are easy-going and slightly messy, or fastidiously clean and well-organised. This will inform our approach and through this, the design, layout and materials emerge. Initially, our design process is very fluid and gradually, we hone in on what works best both for the client and their space, incrementally improving and developing the scheme until we reach the design that works best.

Do you think materials can be the difference in making or breaking a project/ design?
For sure materials can make or break a project and we’ve all seen it many times. However, from my perspective it is the kitchen layout and its relation to the space that is most crucial and a great scheme is one where the joinery is ideally in proportion to the room and not just an afterthought. When this is combined with good detailing and choice materials the result is always perfect. But a poor layout and ill-considered detailing that is clad in 24ct gold will always look crap! Not that I am suggesting gold-plated kitchens should be the new thing.

You often use Richlite throughout your designs, what draws you to this material?
Indeed, we offer Richlite as a material choice for our classic kitchen design. We appreciate its depth and tactility and particularly like using the deep and earthy colours of the Northwest Collection: Black Diamond, Blue Canyon and Redstone.

What is your favourite room in a house and why?
My favourite room in a house is one that has a view of the sea, unfortunately this presents something of a problem when you live in London. To answer a slightly different question, I don’t very much love being in other people’s kitchens; instead of enjoying my hosts’ company, I am usually looking at their kitchen cabinets and worrying over misaligned doors and drawers. Yes, I am very detail-obsessed, it’s a curse.