I wanted to make a platform bed to sit in the roof space of my daughters bedroom. The ceiling slope follows the profile of the valley roof, so there is just room to put a platform in. I also wanted to experiment with CNC router cut plywood and cantilevered wall supports.

I have never designed anything for CNC cutting before, but found I could download Opendesk designs to understand the dimensions of all the cuts for joints and slots. Then I simply drew the designs up full size in illustrator and exported them as .dwg files. I used a local workshop, hubworkshop in Norwood, to cut it out for me. They were very helpful and tweaked the designs a bit before cutting them.

I then spent a weekend putting the bed up. The plywood buttresses are spaced so they sit exactly on the timber stud work in the wall. I didn’t think the plasterboard could bear the load. I also didn’t want the bed to have a large supporting post coming down into the room. So it hangs from the gullam timbers that form the valley gutter in the middle of the roof at one end. It actually uses a ‘twisted toggle’ for hanging clamps, which is a very strong metal plate with a 90 degree twist in it used in theatre scenery. I brought them at Flints theatre supplies when they were having a sale at the closing of their Old Queen’s Row shop just off the Walworth Road. Just because they looked lovely. Didn’t realise I’d find a use for one so soon. The other end is supported by the ladder up. Which was made of three sections of ply clamped together for depth and strength.

Its worth mentioning that Flints Queens Row shop is a wonderful building. Originally built by Joseph Harker, a scene painter, in 1905 to provide him with a naturally lit scenic art studio. Southwark granted Flint’s landlord permission to turn it into luxury flats and another bit of light commerce and industry is in the process of becoming residential. It was a little Aladdin’s cave of paints, Jesmonite and such treasures that was a short bus ride for me from Herne Hill.

My daughter got the platform bed to make up for her sister having the bigger bedroom at the front of the house. But I’m rather jealous.