Before joining the 12-week Woodworking Skills course, Laure worked as an oilfield engineer on rigs and platforms before she worked her way to drilling supervisor at Shell, but in 2015, felt it was time to leave the oilfields and look for new ideas and challenges in her professional life.
Laure’s final project piece was a child’s toy chest and seat (built for her two-year old niece), comprised of three main species of wood: American Black Walnut, American Cherry and Sycamore. The Shaker inspired toy chest is made of veneered plywood with marquetry details. The lid is made of magnetic segments, secured by a turned screw. The seat and chest are joined by two ‘S’ shaped laminations, walnut and sycamore veneers create a uniform striped lines through the lamination.
Laure’s partner, Simon was a student at the Academy on the 40-week boat building course, where along with the Class of August 2016, he built an 18′ Version of the Donzi Deep V sweet 16 Inboard (named after Laure).
Since graduating from the Academy, Simon and Laure founded their own boat building company, Hawksley Classics, specialising in luxury bespoke classic wooden speedboats. Simon’s boat ‘Laure’ was awarded runner-up at this year’s Classic Boat Awards in the Powered Vessel – New Build Category.
After finishing the Woodworking Skills course, Laure has been putting the skills she learnt to the test by helping Simon build boats. In her spare time, she hopes to design and build furniture for her own enjoyment.
