Monthly Update June 2022

This month we focus on the combined day/cabin bed we designed specially for an Autistic child. Learn more about the role our Managing Director Dan now plays on the Design in Mental Health Network. Finally we offer an insight into Biophilic Design and its therapeutic benefits.  

Lucky Winner of a Day/Cabin Bed

If you went to either the Autism Show in Manchester or the one in London recently, you may have taken part in our prize draw to win the Combi Day/Cabin Bed with Desk that was featured on our stand.

I’m pleased to announce that a parent who visited the London Show was the lucky winner!

The bed we were giving away was an exact replica of one we designed for a customer last year.  Carry on reading to find out more……..

Our bespoke day bed – designed with Autism in mind

Late last year we were approached by the parent of an autistic child who was looking for a combined day/cabin bed for her son’s bedroom. Space was at a premium in the room and she had been unable to find anything which would fit the measurements, be robust, provide storage and give her son the sleeping and living space he needed to feel safe and secure.

Tough Furniture offer a bespoke design service so our Sales Director visited the family home to assess the space and get a full understanding of what they wanted to achieve in there. The parent had some pictures of products she liked but which, for one reason or another, were not suitable.

Armed with these and a brief to design something which could be sat on during the daytime and slept in at night whilst providing storage for clothes and toys as well as a desk space to sit at, Tough’s in-house Design team came up with an initial drawing for the customer to consider. She was delighted with the design and Tough were able to signpost her to possible funding options to help finance the bed.

Once the order was placed, Tough set about manufacturing the bed at their premises in Shropshire. With the Sales, Design and Manufacturing teams based at this same location, it was easy for Tough to ensure the bed was built to the parent’s exact requirements and in the agreed timeframe. It goes without saying that because this is “Tough Furniture”, the bed was fully designed and built with Autism in mind. Click Here for more information on our Bespoke Design Service.

Design in Mental Health Network

We’re proud to announce that our Managing Director, Dan Vesty, has been appointed as an Associate of the Design in Mental Health Network. Given how closely the aims of the Network align with Tough’s ethos as a company, Dan is looking forward to growing into the Associate role and helping support the design and creation of better environments for recovery.

Bringing the outside in

Continuing with the theme of design and its importance in mental health and challenging behaviour settings, have you come across the term Biophilic Design? It’s not a new concept – elements of biophilic design have been seen in architecture from as far back as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – but its name is fairly new.

The term Biophilia means “a love of nature”. It’s widely acknowledged that being in nature has distinct therapeutic benefits and Biophilic design refers to the way in which nature can be incorporated into building spaces to contribute to the health and well-being of its occupants.

You can find out more about the concept and in particular what we at Tough are doing to incorporate its principles into our designs in our blog here.