Designing a winner: Kilkenny Shop’s Open Call initiative

Jessie Collins talks to the successful applicants about their burgeoning businesses 

Sam Agus Nessa

Working out of Calliaghstown in Co Kildare, Bristol-born Sam Hutchings and Nessa Doran O’Reilly originally met in London while pursuing their passion for furniture making and restoration. Moving to Ireland, they knew they wanted to work with local materials. While starting out with bespoke large-scale commissions, they realised the off-cuts could be put to great use, so their range of functional, fun chopping boards was born.

“The aim was to ...