Tectona Grandis Furniture: Reclaiming teakwood with contemporary designs

Like all things that have passed the test of endurance, reclaimed teak that has been toughened over decades is a strong, sustainable material for design. It is this teakwood, seasoned and strengthened over years of use - often in extreme conditions, that forms the foundation of Ahmedabad-based Tectona Grandis Furniture. The firm takes its name from the scientific name for teak, and creates furniture that weaves contemporary designs into the time-tested material.

Tectona Grandis Furniture is the expression of Dhruvkant Amin’s passion for originality and love for crafting something strikingly singular. Amin’s journey as a designer started in 2001. After studying furniture designing at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, he began his professional experience with Jindal Stainless, Delhi. He went on to win many awards, including the Elle Décor award and the Best Furniture Design award in 2005.

His love for timber drew him closer to his dream of creating wooden furniture. Opportunity struck when the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, was in need of furniture for their institute in the year 2013. A setup was created to fulfill their demand and the rest followed. Tectona Grandis Furniture was incepted in 2014, when his next big project commenced. Ahmedabad’s historic building, The Navjivan Trust, was being revamped. The publishing house has to its credit the publication of more than 800 titles in English, Gujarati, Hindi and other languages. The idea was to retain the essence and heritage that was associated with the Navjivan Trust, and Tectona Grandis Furniture was successful in maintaining the heritage of Ahmedabad by designing furniture for its display and cafe. The chairs designed by him for the Karma Café at the building have been named after the café. Called the Karma Chair, a sleek wooden stackable chair, it is one of the firm’s most popular products.

“The importance of material is as important as one’s knowledge and attraction towards it. If sustainability is one’s priority, then natural materials are the only way to go in the long run. Having worked with stainless steel for a long time and then building things with mild steel, I later realised that my attraction had always been wood. Nature and natural materials have always drawn me. Recycled teak being local and easy to source, especially when you don’t want to leave a negative impact on the environment, became my premier choice of material for manufacturing furniture,” shares Amin.

As the market was gradually opening up to designer furniture, Dhruvkant Amin opened a warehouse display studio in 2017 in Ahmedabad. The year 2018 brought visibility on its home ground with the curated exhibition of Raw Collaborative’s second edition. The Ripple center table curated by Rooshad Shroff in the curated gallery became one of the most talked about products designed by Amin. With passing time and gaining popularity, Tectona Grandis Furniture opened up its first experience centre in the neighbourhood of Ambli Road, off the S.G.Highway, Ahmedabad, in March 2019, followed by a flagship store in Surat in May the same year. Earlier this year, the studio partnered with STIR for the Materiology 2.0 exhibition, a fun interplay of narratives that tie in yesterday’s memories, today’s actuality and tomorrow’s dreams. The studio's showcase at the STIR Gallery was appreciated by over a thousand visitors during the course of the exhibition.

At his experience centre, one can see that the furniture designed by him has a character of its own; it stands boldly and yet in perfect harmony with the ambience, and reflects the quality work of his experienced team.

The contemporary designs redefine the functionality of teak wood, making furniture that ensures total comfort and flexibility, apart from setting an example in handcrafted, sustainable design. The coating used for the finishing of his furniture is also environment friendly. His in-house design and manufacturing allow him to offer customised solution to the specific requirements of his clients.

Each piece, elaborates Amin, is designed and prototyped with various revisions in the thought process as well as in the detailing before the end result is successfully achieved.

“Beauty is found in harmony of purpose and form. My idea of good design is, make it simple but significant,” he concludes.

For more information please visit Tectona Grandis Furniture