Resident has expanded their collection with the same quiet confidence that has made them a global brand.
Creative Director Tim Rundle is helping define what’s next for Resident. From Aotearoa to Copenhagen, the latest collection speaks to design that encapsulates a sense of place. We spoke to him to find out more…
Resident has built an international following, but your design roots are firmly in Aotearoa. How does being based here shape how you design and collaborate? Being away from the industry’s epicentres gives us clarity — a chance to reflect and focus on what feels meaningful. There’s also a constant, grounding connection to the natural world here; it’s an influence that instinctively draws us towards natural materials and a more organic approach to colour and texture.
You recently debuted at 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen. What drew you there? I’d personally been attending for some time due to work with Danish brands. Five or so years ago 3 Days of Design was still quite Scandinavia-centric, but it’s fast becoming the most important design event in Europe. With this year’s Resident collection including two new furniture families by studios from Scandinavia, Note and Asca, it felt like the right moment.
Your exhibition with Note was called Viewpoint. What’s behind the name? Viewpoint reflects the idea that our distance from the rest of the world allows us to bring a different attitude and approach to the industry. The design of the exhibition itself was inspired by the tones and rhythms of the New Zealand landscape. The colour palette was pared back and earthy, and Note designed a viewing platform that reflected our mountainous landscape.
This was your biggest launch yet. How did you approach shaping such a broad collection, and what ties the pieces together? This collection was put together strategically, looking at product typologies we felt we needed, in manufacturing processes we knew we could execute well. We sent briefs out to a handful of both current and new designers. From then on, the team worked hard, leveraging prototyping technology and local manufacturing expertise to iterate and refine the products on a tight schedule.
Resident designs sit between residential ease and commercial rigour. How do you strike that balance? This approach is core to the way we work and we take great care in ensuring that our pieces sit just as comfortably in both contexts. The fact that our pieces need to survive in demanding commercial environments means they make incredibly practical and enduring pieces for the home. Likewise, our approach to aesthetics and comfort aligns with the shift we’ve witnessed in recent years of commercial spaces becoming more inviting and homely.
There’s a clarity and lightness that runs through your work. What makes something feel distinctly ‘Resident’? I think clarity is a great word for describing what we’re aiming for when we go through the process of refining a design. Our pieces tend to have one core concept that makes them unique — you’ll immediately see it in the way each piece is resolved. Throughout development, we stay focused on this central concept, distilling down the design to its essence and avoiding unnecessary distractions.
Now well into your role as Creative Director, what excites you about seeing these pieces out in the world? This felt like quite a milestone as it’s been just over two years since I took on the role, alongside re-establishing my own studio back home. These pieces are the first collection for Resident that I’ve been involved in from the very beginning — from working out the strategy to writing briefs and selecting the designs, right through to art-directing the photoshoots. The reception so far has validated that we’re heading in the right direction, and I’m looking forward to seeing how people use the pieces in their own spaces. It’s rewarding to see
your work used in unexpected ways, alongside pieces you wouldn’t have imagined.
resident.co.nz
Interview Alice Lines
Photography Sam Hartnett