In pursuit of an innovative, foundational set of joinery, Fyrn Co-founder Ros’s idea was to use a piece of metal to clamp the wood, rather than screwing it together.

While this approach would require a longer development period and greater precision, Ros believed that developing hardware that could provide strength with a thin piece of wood would be more valuable as a foundational system.

Think of a matchstick: imagine putting a screw through it. The less material you have to work with, the harder it is to create a sound connection. This is the challenge that would guide the next period of development.

It is typical for conventional knock down furniture to have many exposed bolts and screws, but Ros aimed for elegance as well as utility. Fyrn’s bracket was designed to strengthen the areas where furniture typically fails, which tend to be visible. Therefore, the challenge was to create a piece of hardware that was sleek and attractive; beautiful enough to serve as a defining aesthetic feature, rather than a large, clunky piece of metal.

Equally challenging was engineering an unseen companion piece of hardware to strengthen the internal joints—a reinforced connection that would further eliminate the need for exposed bolts. Developing hidden hardware that offered strength while allowing for repairability was no small feat