REPAIR PORTRAIT | Sam Ludgate BLOOM

Mar 21

‘Old things have an energetic resonance that new things lack, as do my dungarees and I love them’

Sam Ludgate effortlessly balances ramshackle charm with deliberate contemporary form in his buildings, artwork and sculpture. Through on-going studies of geometric shapes and a reclaim-first attitude to sourcing, the Constantine based designer creates unpretentious timber spaces that are rich with pleasing texture. Each structure is created new yet already full of story, and it’s a warmth you feel immediately upon interaction.

So it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Sam approached the workshop with his much beloved workwear, literally on it’s last hole filled legs, asking to make them fresh again. These Carhartt overalls, as synonymous to Sam as his big smile and colourful woollen hats, were still a handsome piece despite the roughness of their labour. An inviting challenge - to fix, strengthen and customise them in a way that honours the original design, and also adds value and character for a longer life. In keeping with Sam’s design approach, the predominant repairs used re-appropriated canvas from a British Navy seams kit bag, reinforced with organised, organic lines.

While we connected over deconstructing and reconstructing materials, we could chat to Sam about his creative process, and finding pace between work and fatherhood in Cornwall…

When are you most calm?

When coming toward the end of a hallucinogenic trip. The feeling of expansive thinking, and one ness with nature takes some beating. If thats not allowed then - On a beach, dozing in the warm afternoon breeze after a boozy lunch.

When are you most excited?

The moment just after I have caught a good wave, and actually managed to surf it. I get this child like rush of endorphins that makes me want to air grab like Tom Cruise in the volleyball scene in Top Gun

When are you most angry?

I’ve never been that angry a person, but I find it difficult when I perceive that people are unjustly hurting others.

When are you most motivated?

In a work sense I am always really motivated the morning after a day when stuff has gone wrong. The warmth of the sun first thing is also good for my motivation.

You explore a range of forms and applications in your practise, from buildings and custom interiors to drawing and sculpture. How do these varied projects inform one another?

They are all quite simply but intrinsically linked. The drawings and the sculptures are freestyle visual experiments to discover form, space and texture that can augment the built environment.

I’m very intrigued by your modular housing theory. What draws you to this design concept? How would it work?

It’s kind of an extension to the Huf Haus idea.

You have a series of well designed, high quality, repairable mobile buildings that are designed to interlock with each other. Think beautiful, architecturally charming static caravans. Each small building is one room of the house, with all the necessary services for that room. There would be kitchen modules, bathroom modules, bedroom modules, gym modules etc, the skys the limit and you can have them in various configurations, you could even stack them. Different layouts and modules could create different out door spaces. One would start off small with just two or three modules, and as your family and or your financial standing grew you could attach more and more modules, essentially extending your house.

Then when the kids up and leave you can send modules off with them to help ‘get on the ladder’ and start their set up. Due to the downsizing you can stay in the same place with a less costly, smaller house to run. When you die your kids can fight over who gets which of your modules to add to their set up, and someone else can start a fresh on your plot of land - which is back to perfectly useable land no foundations do deal with.

I'm not sure its a theory, more a very basic concept - a pie in the sky - idealist - dependant on so many changes to our entire thinking and infrastructure kind of concept, but the buildings would be rad…

You moved away from a successful career in London to live and work very differently in rural Cornwall. How did you find the transition?

In one sense it was easy, my quality of life improving was very tangible straight away, the gift of 20% more time everyday because I wasn't travelling so much is also very memorable and watching and feeling the seasons change so intimately, still makes me very happy.

I found the social aspect much harder, and I took quite a long time to feel settled. London is a very sociable place and at the time I think I was a slightly unhealthily sociable person. I didn't spend a huge amount of time on my own, so the slower, quieter and more insular nature of living down here was a struggle for me to start with. We also became parents after only a year in Cornwall which increased the feeling of isolation. But I just needed to let it in and sit with it. As a result I am now more grounded, self reliant and happier….. but I still enjoy a knees up.

You recently came back to work after a 2.5 year ‘break’ as the primary carer for your son. Have you discovered any changes to your process compared to pre-fatherhood?

‘Break’ ha. Work is a holiday compared to looking after a very small child…

Whilst taking on the primary carer role for my son Otto when he was 2 months old, I had already started renovating our house, that period would be a whole other interview but the two things coinciding taught me one massive thing. Patience. Patience with work and with people. And now the dust has settled I feel I am more patient with my creativity, and how I work physically.

Your trusty dungarees - they were pretty threadbare when you brought them over! Considering the repair cost is almost as much as a new set, why did you want to salvage them?

Its simple. I’m big into recycling and salvage in my work anyway. Saving and reusing good quality objects and materials is a joyous past-time. Old things have an energetic resonance that new things lack, as do my dungarees and I love them. We’ve been through a lot together and they display that journey to me in their stains and marks. So it seemed a no brainer not to pay a huge corporation more money for more dungarees, and instead pay a conscientious, insanely hard working and talented friend, who employs people locally with her business and creativity, to make them better than they were, even when brand new.

Repair notes:

Tears hand repaired , covered with new protective panels + reinforced with sashiko stitching
Knee pad pocket replacement, inserted into side seams
Shoulder strap webbing replaced / salvaged original hardware
Frayed edges + cuffs patched
Leg length extended
Waistband + fly guard reconstruction
Bib reinforced
Patch fabric taken from surplus British Navy seamans kit bag

Sam Ludgate Bloom | Timber Buildings and Spaces

Photography by James Bannister

Alison Goodman