The Snowdon School of Furniture opens new exhibition ‘ROOTED: Rethinking Wood for Furniture’
Our Snowdon School of Furniture, founded by The King’s Foundation’s Vice-President Lord Snowdon, has opened an exciting new exhibition of furniture at The Garrison Chapel in London, featuring pieces of furniture created by graduates of the Foundation’s CREATE programme.
Lord Snowdon visited the gallery to see the work of the alumni from his namesake school. Lord Snowdon is a renowned furniture maker, establishing the Snowdon School in 2022, to help train the next generation of furniture designers and makers.
“It has been wonderful to return to The Garrison Chapel for this special exhibition featuring work by former students from The Snowdon School of Furniture. It is inspiring to see how so many King’s Foundation alumni are helping to keep traditional and sustainable furniture-making skills alive through their talent and commitment to craft.
Lord Snowdon, Vice-President of The King’s Foundation and founder of The Snowdon School of Furniture
“This exhibition is an excellent opportunity for these young makers to showcase their work and I encourage all those interested in traditional skills and sustainable craftsmanship to visit.”
The exhibition, open from, Wednesday 5 November, until Friday 14 November, features pieces by 11 graduates of the Snowdon School. These students include Lily Hitchcock, Sam McBride, Lucy Steward, Cam Rowley, and Maitri Shah – all who have their own unique styles and techniques.
Lily Hitchcock recently won ‘Best Chair in Show’ at the Furniture Makers Company annual New Furniture Makers Exhibition for her piece, ‘Her Captain’s Chair’. Earlier this year Lily, and fellow alumna Hannah Evans, were commissioned to the design and make a British oak table which formed part of the Chelsea Pensioners Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025.
“It is a full circle moment to showcase my award-winning chair at the new exhibition of The Snowdon School of Furniture alumni at The Garrison Chapel. Since graduating from The King’s Foundation, I’ve been presented with a range of exciting opportunities and built valuable industry connections that would not have been available to me without the charity’s support. I am so grateful to The King’s Foundation and Lord Snowdon for their continued support and their wider work in protecting and championing traditional crafts.”
Lily Hitchcock, Snowdon School of Furniture alumna
The Snowdon School of Furniture, located at our King’s Foundation education workshops at Highgrove, delivers two flagship furniture programmes: the CREATE programme and the Snowdon Summer School.
Students on the programme gain a better understanding of the growing, harvesting, sawing and drying of timber, and its production processes. The course teaches them to design more effectively and build furniture that is beautiful, functional and long-lasting, which is ultimately better for the environment.
