Designing with Purpose and Permanence: A Conversation with Paul de Zwart of Another Country

Sean Ronnie Hill (SRH): Paul, thanks so much for joining us. At RISE Design Studio, we’ve long admired Another Country for your thoughtful, craft-driven approach to sustainable furniture. Your work feels deeply aligned with how we approach architecture – slow, purposeful, and grounded in natural materials. Can you tell us a bit about how Another Country came to be, and what values shaped the brand from the start?

Paul de Zwart (PdZ): Thanks, Sean, I really appreciate that. The idea for Another Country came from a desire to offer customers an alternative to trend-led fast furniture – mass-produced, disposable pieces with little soul. I wanted to create something lasting: furniture that was made with care, designed with restraint, and built using honest, sustainable materials. We were always driven by the belief that less is more and that when you make something well, it should last a lifetime or longer.

We think a lot about storytelling, material provenance, tactility, and how a piece will age. The goal isn’t to make something perfect, but something permanent – something that can gather stories over time.

Paul de Zwart, founder of Another Country, sketching in his studio - surrounded by natural materials and timeless textures that inspire his pared-back, sustainable designs.

SRH: That idea of permanence really resonates with us. When we designed Herbert Paradise – a deep retrofit of a London terrace – we used exposed timber, raw brass, and breathable clay plaster. It was about celebrating natural materials and designing for longevity. Your furniture feels like it would be right at home in that space.

PdZ: Absolutely. That kind of environment is exactly where we imagine our work living. Like you, we believe in showing the material for what it is. We don’t use veneers or synthetic finishes. Everything is solid wood, oiled and waxed by hand, using toxin-free natural finishing products. The ageing process is part of the story. Scratches, patina, dents – these things make a piece more personal, not less valuable.

SRH: At RISE, we spend a lot of time thinking about proportion – the rhythm of space, light, and material – and how it all adds up to a sense of calm. We saw a similar restraint in the proportions of your Series One range: clean lines, generous radii, and a sense of quiet confidence.

PdZ: That’s a lovely way to put it – "quiet confidence." We try to design pieces that don’t compete with their surroundings. The best architecture, to me, has a softness to it. Your Three Trees House really exemplifies that – the way joinery and natural light come together, the gentle shifts in material. That’s what we aim for in furniture: pared-back, archetypal design; clarity without coldness.

Three Trees House in Hampstead

SRH: You mentioned joinery – and that’s something we’ve always felt is an architectural language in its own right. In our work, whether it’s a hand-detailed stair or a bespoke timber window seat, we try to make the construction visible and beautiful. You do something similar in your pieces.

PdZ: Yes, we celebrate the joinery. If you’re going to use a traditional mortise and tenon joint, why hide it? It’s part of the honesty of the piece. We work closely with craftspeople in the UK and Portugal, and what we’ve learned from them feeds directly into the design. It’s not just about aesthetics – it’s about respecting the material, the process of making, and the maker.

Respecting the material, the process and the maker

SRH: Sustainability is at the core of both our practices. In our Elmwood Lawn Tennis Pavilion project, we’re even exploring ways to reuse the old bricks – potentially crushing them down to make new terrazzo-style tiles. What’s your take on circular design?

PdZ: I love that idea – using demolition waste to create something beautiful and new. For us, circularity means thinking about the full lifecycle: design with aesthetic longevity at the forefront of our minds, design for disassembly, as much as possible, natural finishes, and repairability. We’ve recently introduced a return and repair scheme, so people can send pieces back to be reconditioned rather than replaced. It’s a small step, but it’s part of taking responsibility. We are, of course, also a carbon neutral business and since last year, proudly B Corp certified.

I think what’s powerful about your approach is that it’s not just about reducing energy – it’s about reconnecting buildings to place and memory. When you incorporate site materials back into the project, it becomes deeply rooted in context.

SRH: That’s exactly it. We’re always looking for ways to embed stories in the fabric of our buildings. Whether it’s through reclaimed timber, natural stone, or even biobased insulation like mycelium, the goal is to make architecture that feels grounded – materially and emotionally.

PdZ: And that emotional layer is so often overlooked. A piece of furniture, like a building, should feel like it belongs. That doesn’t mean it needs to shout – quite the opposite. It should support daily life quietly, comfortably, and beautifully.

SRH: What do you see as the future for sustainable furniture?

PdZ: Whilst the UK is quite natural resource-poor and does not have a viable commercial timber industry (though there are bodies working to address that, like Woodland Heritage), I think we’ll generally see more local sourcing, more modularity, and more materials that are grown, not manufactured. Bio-based composites, bamboo, cork – but also a return to the basics: solid timber, hand-rubbed finishes, things that can be fixed with simple tools. I think consumers are waking up to the idea that real sustainability isn’t about novelty – it’s about quality, care, and patience.

SRH: Paul, it’s been such a pleasure. I think there’s so much alignment between what we do – from the way we think about proportion and texture to how we approach longevity and reuse. I’m excited to see how we might collaborate in the future.

PdZ: Likewise, Sean. These kinds of conversations give me hope that good design – thoughtful, low-impact, high-integrity design – is where we’re heading. Let’s keep pushing the boundaries, together.

Note: This conversation with Paul de Zwart of Another Country was driven purely by our shared passion for sustainability, craftsmanship, and long-term thinking. No money changed hands – just ideas, generously shared.

Interested in integrating sustainable design into your space? Reach out and let’s talk about how architecture and furniture can work together to create meaningful, low-impact environments.

If you would like to talk through your project with the team, please do get in touch at architects@risedesignstudio.co.uk or give us a call on 020 3947 5886

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