Choose Your Own Adventure With DuroDeco’s Customizable Furniture Kit

DuroDeco founders Michael Dunham and Rachel Robinson of Dunham Robinson

By Nicole Haddad

Few put that pesky adage about necessity driving invention into motion more decisively than architect Rachel Robinson and structural engineer Michael Dunham, co-founders of New York–based architecture and interiors studio Dunham Robinson. At ICFF in May, the partners in work and life officially launched DuroDeco, a custom furniture company that offers made-to-order pieces rooted in architectural rigor. 

“Working in city spaces leads you to understand how much a custom piece can make a room,” Rachel says. “But the process is incredibly tedious. You have to juggle multiple sources just to gather the components needed to fit it all together.”

A DuroDeco racetrack dining table with a v-shaped white oak table base and a limestone top

For anyone who has navigated the logistical hurdles of moving furniture in the city, it’s akin to physically engaging in an exhaustive game of 3D Tetris. From narrow, prewar stairwells and unforgiving door frames to oddly shaped layouts and ludicrously small footprints with slanted floors, readymade furniture can easily fall short. So, prompted by one curved corner too many and a recurring client need for pieces contoured to a space, the idea for DuroDeco was born. (If you listen closely, you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from doormen, movers, as well as designers across NYC!)

Oval coffee table with a Golden Spider marble and a tall linear base in oak; round dining table in Giallo Reale with a walnut X-base

Spanning various table typologies and accessories, the inaugural collection is essentially an ingenious modular kit of scalable parts. Clients can choose from a curated palette of American hardwoods, distinctive tabletop and base shapes, and an evolving library of natural stones, including one-of-a-kind remnant slabs and exotic marbles with dramatic, swirling veins—Orobico Rosso, we’re looking at you!

The brand’s interactive 3D configurator renders iterations in real time, creating a Candy Crush-level obsession for design lovers. Clover leg and a racetrack top? Yes, please!

Two side tables showcase variations in scale and material.

DuroDeco works with a network of workshops across the East Coast to fabricate all the furniture, ensuring rapid lead times and the ability to scale for larger production runs, which is a win for hospitality projects! Inlays, unique edge profiles, inventive stone fabrication, and plenty more customization options are also available.

Lovers of the brand also benefit from the duo’s perfect marriage of talents: As an architect, Rachel focuses most on form, concept, and materiality, while Michael concentrates on detailing connections, performance, and logistics. For ultimate convenience, DuroDeco even has a rotating assortment of in-stock and ready-to-ship pieces.

But most importantly for those who aren’t yearning to wrestle a marble table through a tight stairwell or a cramped elevator, DuroDeco offers white-glove installation so you never have to say, "pivot," again. ⬥

Rectangular dining table with clover legs in walnut and a Rosso Levanto top