We will guide you to realise your potential as a craftsperson and fine furniture-maker. We teach you traditional methods but you will get diverse approaches to try. The end result is always very personal.

Tutors

  • A man smiling, leaning on a woodworking workbench in a workshop, wearing a tan apron and a black vest.

    Peter Quin

    Founder & Principal
    Master Furnituremaker, The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers

  • A man working on a woodworking project in a workshop, using a hand tool while kneeling in front of a row of wooden objects hanging from a rack.

    Andrew Lapthorn

    Designer-Maker, Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen & Owner of Lapthorn Furniture

  • A man with glasses and a beard adjusting his glasses and holding a pink pen, standing in front of architectural blueprints pinned to a wall.

    Mark Thomas

    Designer-Maker & Owner of MakerMark

  • A man with glasses and a beard, wearing a jacket, sits against a wooden wall with arms crossed, smiling slightly in a black-and-white photo.

    Paul Iaquaniello

    Designer-Maker & Owner of Kent Furniture Design House

Peter Quin, B.Ed. (Hons) - Principal

Peter has been a cabinet-maker and teacher for 30 years, beginning his training in a traditional family-run business in Banbury, Oxfordshire. He was the only apprentice amongst eight colourful, worldly-wise, and skilled cabinet-makers, who were as much interested in you as a person as they were about the important task of learning a trade.

He has worked in various workshops, and has enjoyed success in making furniture from his own workshop since 1989.

His teaching career began with a three year spell in Africa, working as a volunteer lecturer for a development agency. Since this beginning, his career has seen him write, implement, and run degree level programmes, validated by the University of Kent in Furniture Design and Making.

Peter enjoys working with students to realise their potential as furniture-makers and designers, sharing their enthusiasm, and providing them with the necessary making skills and professionalism to pursue their ambitions after the course.

Two men standing outdoors near a grill, smiling and talking, with one man holding a paper tray of cooked food. The setting appears to be a backyard or garden area with a wooden shelter and trees in the background.

Above: Peter hosting his renowned Summer break Paella. Below: a winter fry-up breakfast with students.

Four men stand around a grill, smiling and looking at the food being cooked, with smoke rising from the grill.

Andrew Lapthorn, Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen

Andrew is an award-winning Furniture Designer Maker, owner of Lapthorn Furniture, in Rochester.

Andrew completed his studies in 'Furniture Fine Craftsmanship and Design' in 1981 at one of the foremost establishments of its kind in the country, Rycotewood College, Thame. At the same time, he passed his Licentiateship of Society of Designer Craftsmen with distinction, and he has been running his own workshop ever since. You can see more of Andrew's work at www.lapthornfurniture.co.uk

People standing near HMS Cavalier warship at a dock, with one person facing a group of three others, and a large camouflage military vehicle in the background.

Above: Andrew (3rd from left) showing students one of his pieces, a Teak bench at the Historic Dockyards in Chatham. Below: Mark in his studio in St. Leonards.

A man with a beard leaning against a workbench in a woodworking shop, with tools and wood projects around him, and a green plant partially in the foreground.

Mark Thomas, Designer-Maker

Mark is a Designer Maker who works from his studio MAKERMARK in St. Leonards, near Hastings. He holds a Bespoke Guild Mark for his work 'The Axis Table’.

Mark is inspired by the natural world and mid-century Scandinavian design. He uses traditional cabinet making techniques to make contemporary furniture and was a graduate of the school in 2019. Mark was nominated for the prestigious Wood Awards in 2022 and 2023 and was the recipient of a Bespoke Guild Mark in 2024.

Paul Iaquaniello, Designer-Maker

Paul Iaquaniello runs his own design and furniture making workshop – Kent Furniture Design House – out of West Malling, Kent.

He combines his award winning background in graphic design and commercial art with his skills as a professional wood technician to make fine bespoke furniture.

Staff

  • A person working on a woodworking project in a workshop, wearing a green jacket and with sunglasses resting on their head, focused on their task at a workbench.

    Anna

    Machine Technician

  • A smiling man wearing a gray beanie and a gray fleece jacket standing outdoors in front of a black wooden structure with a moss-covered roof.

    Anthony French

    Machine Technician

  • A woman with long dark hair and earrings, looking off into the distance outdoors, with a blurred natural background.

    Caterina Lay

    Artist in Residence & Marketing