Retail buyers and studios now have access to a new aluminium display line that treats rivets as both structural joints and visible surface ornament. Tom Pearson revealed the 10,000 Rivets collection at APOC during London Design Festival, installing a set of angular shelves, tables and lamps in the gallery’s storefront where they also serve as display cases and retail tables for contemporary fashion.
The pieces are formed from anodised aluminium and finished with a deliberately irregular surface. Pearson, who co-founded the fabrication workshop Jamps Studio, said the project began with experiments in anodising, the chemical process that alters metal at the skin and improves water resistance. He used hands-on dye application—brushes, airbrushes and pipettes—to coax irregular, droplet-like marks across the metal, treating the finish as a decorative patina that accepts variation.
"My setup is no different to the usual process, involving acid and boiling water; I am just treating it as a decorative patina embracing all the unpredictability of the process," Pearson said, framing the surface treatment as an aesthetic decision rather than a flaw.
Practical constraints in the anodising workflow also dictated how the pieces were made. Pearson pointed to the capacity of his acid tanks and the difficulty of welding treated aluminium as reasons he turned to riveted joins. "The acid tanks I have can only accommodate a certain sheet size, and welding anodised aluminium is feasible but messy, hence the riveted construction," he said. The exposed seams create shelves that appear to hover and edges that read as patterned, sculptural bands.
The collection takes its name from a round number, but Pearson confirmed the works contain 6,264 rivets in total. "I ordered 10,000. Who knows where the rest have gone!" he joked. Manufacturing for 10,000 Rivets was carried out with design consultancy Heavy Duty Services and the pieces were photographed by Studio Adamson.
10,000 Rivets is the first furniture and lighting release under Tom Pearson Studio. The work is on view at APOC, 8 Andrews Road, London E8 4QN, from 12 to 20 September as part of London Design Festival, where visitors can see how riveted construction and droplet-anodised finishes function together as display furniture and as a crafted surface language.
