About Us
Ten years of making things by hand.
A small studio on the Sunshine Coast, quietly building objects designed to be kept for life.
The Founder
A kitchen table, a bottle of resin, and the slow realisation that this was the work.
Ten years ago, Lauren left university to make things by hand. There was no grand business plan. Just a kitchen table, a bottle of resin, and the slow realisation that the objects she was making were starting to matter to the people who bought them.
A year in, she left her full-time job to commit fully. What started as one person experimenting on weekends became a studio. The studio moved to the Sunshine Coast. Lauren's partner Chris joined. Their son Azuri arrived. The team is now growing.
Ten years in, we still make every piece by hand. We still source local Camphor Laurel. We are quietly building something we want to be making for the next twenty.
What we believe
We don't make chopping boards. We make objects that hold a moment. The day you married each other. The first house. A name. A date. Etched into Camphor Laurel timber, made to be passed down.
Lauren x
Founder, The Fifth Design
Sustainability
Made from a problem.
Camphor Laurel is one of Australia's most invasive species. It chokes out native trees, displaces wildlife, and councils spend millions removing it from forests every year.
We take that timber, season it for 12 to 24 months, and turn it into objects designed to be kept for a lifetime. Every board we make removes a small piece of an invasive species from Australian ecosystems.
No glued joints, no laminated strips. Each board is carved from a single piece of timber, so it doesn't warp or fall apart. Made to outlive the relationship that gave it.
What we stand for
Quietly, every day.
Craftsmanship
Every piece is made by hand. None of it is shipped in a box from a factory we have never visited.
Longevity
Built to last decades. Not seasons.
Sustainability
Made from a tree Australia is trying to remove. We give it new life instead.
Emotional depth
A board with a name on it is no longer a board. It is a moment, kept.
Family
Made by a small studio. Made for the tables where families gather.
Integrity
No discount culture. No false scarcity. No mass-produced shortcuts. Just the work.