BACKGROUNDPhilip Koomen has been designing and making furniture to commission since 1975. He works mainly for private clients but also undertakes commissions for church, institutional and corporate clients in the UK, USA, France, Germany and Japan.In 2000 he began a PhD in Sustainable Furniture Design. Over the following six years he developed a practice-based strategy that has begun to explore the creative potential of using underutilised and non-commercial timber resources from local woodlands in the development of furniture designs that have become known as the Signed & Sealed range. Work in progress was showcased in his touring exhibition “Out of the Woods” (2004-5) which “affirmed his status as one of the finest craftsmen in wood in Britaintoday.”BBC Homes & Antiques, 2004 He was awarded a PhD by Brunel University in 2007 entitled “The role of the furniture designer-maker in developing a sustainable practice”. Koomen has lectured and judged at international design forums and competitions including Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico, France and UK and collaborates with various international and trans-national organisations, in particular with AHEC, in research and design projects to promote sustainable development. Currently Koomen is designing furniture, in North American red oak, for the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts’ main auditorium. 
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