Manufacturer hired to furnish home of England Rugby
Kitchen and bedroom manufacturer, Daval Furniture, has been commissioned by former England rugby captain Dylan Hartley to design and make fitted furniture for Hartley’s private suite at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.
Huddersfield-based Daval’s special projects division delivers a small number of non-residential projects per year and has previously been commissioned by brands including technical outdoor apparel maker, Thrudark, for its headquarters in Poole, Dorset, and television personality and influencer, Lucy Mecklenburgh.
Under the latest brief, Daval creative director, James Bodsworth, is working with Hartley to create a bar and entertaining area for the corporate suite which will be used for hospitality on match days.
Bodsworth said: “Twickenham is known as the home of English rugby and, as a brand rooted in our own British heritage, we couldn’t be more pleased to be working with Dylan on this exciting project or think of a better fit.
“Dylan has given us free reign to design a space that is both modern yet classic and provides comfortable yet luxurious surroundings for him and his guests on match days.
“We are working on an exciting scheme centred around a made-to-measure bar using our Lugano Boston Oak cabinetry that will be complimented by a raised bench with seating that looks directly out on to the iconic pitch.”
Furniture for the project will be manufactured on-site at Daval’s 100,000 sq ft factory in Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, and installed in Hartley’s Twickenham suite at the end of October.
Hartley said: “I was keen to use a British brand that manufactures here in the UK, so Daval’s manufacturing heritage and excellent product combined with James’s creative and design expertise is the perfect match. I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished result.”
Hartley captained the England rugby team from January 2016 until the end of his international career in 2019 and is the team’s most capped hooker of all time, earning his first cap in 2008.
