Over 12 months ago, Steel Road Custom Furniture was invited to submit an Expression of Interest for a commission to design and manufacture bespoke, high-end, solid timber, furniture pieces for the Speaker’s Dining Room, at the Parliament of Victoria.

After a long and rigorous selection process, which included submitting their ‘EOI’, quoting, being shortlisted, prototype chair making, providing a lengthy supplier statement which addressed detailed and specific assessment criteria, the panel selected Steel Road as the successful applicant. The furniture was manufactured to a very tight deadline and the Steel Road team delivered the final pieces to Parliament on the last day of August 2024.

_{Collaboration crew from left to right: Elliot Gorham, designer maker; Louise Gorham operations manager; Denis Brown, timber miller (Yackandandah); Rob Love, furniture polisher (Bright) and Ben Saunier, upholsterer (Porepunkah).}

“I believe fourteen EOI’s were submitted by Furniture Maker Australia wide, just three were shortlisted to prototype the dining chair and from there, we were selected to make the furniture, which was a great moment for us.” – Elliot

“It was our top priority to showcase the skills of our fellow small businesses and collaborators in the North East of Victoria. We wanted this project to be a celebration of local businesses.” – Louise

“At Steel Road one of our main goals is to manufacture the highest quality furniture possible, we achieve this through Elliot’s furniture making experience, attention to detail and enormous skill set. That being said, in order for us to make the best furniture, we rely on the support and expertise of others. We have access to the finest timbers, including Denis Brown’s premium Blackwood, we utilise the skills of a master polisher, Rob Love, who has over 40 years’ experience and the brief for the Parliament chair, was to have a leather upholstered seat pad, so we needed to outsource that element to our local expert, Ben Saunier. It’s a team effort for sure.” – Louise

_{The Speaker’s Dining Room Table and Chairs, designed and manufactured by Elliot Gorham.}

_{All photography by Michael Gordon Hill.}