Laurent studied for eight years at prestigious French trades university, The Companions of Duty (French: “Les Compagnon du Devoir”) to become a master furniture and cabinet maker (French: “Ébéniste”).
Part of the graduation process is to complete a “masterpiece” to show he is spiritually, intellectually and technically ready to become a Compagnon.
In 2011, it was agreed by his Compagnon elders that Laurent was required to design and make cabinets for his masterpiece and it would be used as furniture in one of their offices located in Muizon, in the Champagne region of France.
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The finished design has many distinct design features:
- Curved fronts using European Sycamore Maple veneer and laminated ply substrate
- A volcanic fault-line style design on the edge of doors to expose the contrasting African Bubinga veneer
- Internal shelving for documents
Laurent was also required to make his own jigs to press and laminated the substrate layers together.
Below you will see the process of this job that took over 300 hours to complete, and of course he graduated!
The Jigs
Laminated pieces being pressed in the jig 
The Volcanic Fault-Line Design
