Meet The Owner
Guy Mallinson, our founder, trained as a cabinetmaker at Parnham House/The John Makepeace school for craftsmen in wood in Beaminster, Dorset. Subsequently, he studied for an MA in furniture design at the Royal College of Art.
Following this, Mallinson Ltd was established, specialising in bespoke design and specialist woodworking for both private and corporate clients. The workshops in Fulham expanded to accommodate sixteen cabinetmakers, undertaking various projects including large-scale contemporary furniture commissions, specialist joinery, and architectural installations such as Walt Disney’s headquarters in West London.
Guy was actively involved in pioneering new wood bending technologies, including the manufacture and processing of Bendywood®, and also conducted evening classes in craft and woodwork from the Parson’s Green workshops.
One of the notable projects involving Bendywood® was the LABAN project, a major public installation designed by Herzog & De Meuron, with manufacturing, design, and development carried out by Guy and his team. In 2003, Herzog & De Meuron won the Stirling Prize for their work on LABAN, while Mallinson Ltd received the FX International Interior Design Award for Best Public Space Installation for the same project.
Seeking a change and wanting to bring up his family in the countryside Guy exchanged the hustle of Fulham for a new life in back in West Dorset, where he immersed himself in teaching traditional wood crafts and green woodworking outdoors. His experience with wood bending in London reignited his passion for green woodworking and traditional craft skills, leading him to run courses in chair making, bowl carving, pole lathing, and spoon carving, among others, using locally sourced timber.
Guy was invited to be the “Wood Mentor” in the BBC2 Mastercrafts series, filmed in the woods where his business remains today. Courses continued with Guy and other specialist tutors sharing their knowledge and passion for passing on heritage skills in a woodland setting.
Responding to students’ desire to immerse themselves fully in the experience, Guy built yurts, tipis, and shepherds’ huts for accommodation, which later evolved into a pioneering and popular glamping venture known at the time as Crafty Camping.
Guy’s long-standing dream of designing and building a treehouse became a reality in the 13-acre woodland owned by his business. The Woodsman’s Treehouse, which was built by Guy with a team of specialist craftsmen and designed in collaboration with Beam architects, received two RIBA awards and featured on Grand Design House of the Year and George Clark’s Amazing Spaces.
Inspired by the success of The Woodsman’s Treehouse venture and the growing interest in environmentally friendly construction and tourism, Guy built two more treehouses during lockdown—Dazzle and Pinwheel—each earning a RIBA architectural award and featuring on television.
Presently, Guy, alongside the housekeeping and maintenance team is actively involved in maintaining and improving the three treehouses and woodland site, as well as running the business from his home in Bridport. Additionally, he indulges in his passion for Real Tennis, playing thrice weekly at the Hyde Real Tennis club in Bridport.
Looking ahead, having gained planning permission for 5 new treehouses to replace the old glamping tents the time has come to find a new owner of the woods and business to write the next chapter.
