Inside the Rotterdam studio

Our studio sits on the Zwaanshals in Rotterdam-Noord, a street of small makers, coffee bars and independent galleries. It is the right kind of neighbourhood for a workshop: quiet by day, animated at dusk, and full of the sort of natural north light that makes it easy to judge finishes honestly.

Each frame begins as a length of extruded aluminium profile, delivered in raw six-metre bars. It is cut to size on a mitre saw calibrated daily, joined into a rigid rectangle, and squared on a granite bench that has, at this point, seen thousands of frames pass across it.

Dimensional accuracy matters more than it sounds. A Silicone Edge Graphic — the textile print that tucks into the aluminium channel — needs a frame that is dimensionally precise to within a fraction of a millimetre. Too tight and the print puckers; too loose and the edge sags. There is one right number, and we hit it.

The internal LED array is then laid in strip by strip, wired to a slim driver tucked behind the frame, and the whole assembly is bench-tested for uniformity. We look for a soft, even glow with no visible hot spots and no darker corners, and we adjust the diffusion until the light is truly edge-to-edge.

Only then does the frame get its final finish. Black is anodised for depth; Grey is a soft matte that hides fingerprints; White is a fine powder-coat with just enough texture to catch the daylight. Each finish is inspected under two different light sources before it leaves the bench.

The last step is the quietest. The print is fitted, the frame is powered on one last time, and one of us sits with it for a minute. If it doesn't feel right, it goes back. If it does, it's boxed with its cable neatly coiled, labelled, and set aside for delivery.

This is not a factory. It is a workshop, run by a small team who know each other's handwriting. We think you can feel that when the frame arrives.