Irish designer’s kink sex furniture raising eyebrows in London

A “subtle maximalist” is how designer Domhnall Nolan describes himself. Despite sounding like an oxymoron, he says he combines simple architectural design with layering to add depth to his interior spaces and furniture.

Originally from Dublin, where he achieved a BA in Interior and Furniture Design from DIT in 2014, the London-based designer has been garnering attention for his latest commission of kink sex furniture.

Currently working as the in-house senior interior designer for Soho House, the private members club with branches all around the world, Nolan was commissioned by London’s newest queer kink night, Joyride, to create a selection of sex furniture that he calls Play Pieces.

The organisers behind the club night found him on Instagram, where all his designs, including his Tin Man bookshelf and his bespoke furniture for Soho House, are showcased. But he is also part of the east London queer community and relished the opportunity to create designs for the club.

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“I am a designer in a professional world that is sometimes heteronormative, so I wanted to create non-gender specific pieces that use tan leathers and metal. I really wanted to get away from the cliché of that red and black tacky sex shop look,” says Nolan, who wears a cool pair of cloven foot Tabi heels by Maison Margiela and cascading auburn curls.

A long way from the old Victorian love seats, this mini collection of erotic furniture is in modular form whereby boxy cushions can be used as beds, love seats and saddles. In tobacco coloured leatherette, his inspiration drew from vintage gym equipment and Japanese futons, with a bit of his own “chic sensuality” thrown in for good measure. Metal folding frames are used to elevate seats with the aid of swivel hooks and chains, and are a nod to Nolan’s background in metalwork.

Allowing various positions, the collection has sparked interest through recent exposure in international design publications, that have described his collection as “subtle sophistication” with “whimsical versatility”, resulting in further commissions flowing in. “One of the issues I had to tackle was that of accessibility, and as the beds are also seats and can have low, mid or full height, they can also accommodate a wheelchair.”

Though he is full-time with Soho House, and currently back and forth to “exciting new ventures” in Asia and Central America, he loves the idea of producing high-end art furniture “especially seeing a spotlight on queer perspectives in design”.

He has also undertaken commissions for private residences, but with this sideline into the world of kink furniture, Nolan hopes to “create something that marries the worlds of design, sex and aesthetics”.