Studio Jumel Turns 1930s Cider Press Screw Into Aluminum Stool

A wooden screw mechanism salvaged from a 1930s French cider press now serves as the four legs of LE PRESSOIR, a sculptural stool by Studio Jumel created in collaboration with creative Ariane Ronot. The piece draws on Normandy's apple-growing and cider-making traditions, and it keeps every scar the timber picked up over roughly ninety years of agricultural use.

The mechanism is the story here. A cider press screw is a helix — a threaded column built to bear enormous force while crushing apples. Instead of discarding it, the designers split its form into four legs that carry the structure of the seat above.

What holds the reclaimed wood together?

A cross-shaped frame of 3 mm-thick aluminum connects the wooden elements. The contrast is deliberate: the metal's brushed, vibrated finish reads as precise and new, while the timber stays weathered and irregular. That pairing, old wood against fresh metalwork, connects rural craftsmanship with contemporary fabrication.

The geometry carries meaning too. The openwork aluminum form references apple blossoms, and the seat's helical profile echoes the original screw mechanism — so the part that did the pressing now shapes the part you sit on.

How does it work as furniture?

LE PRESSOIR measures 45 cm high and 42 cm wide and deep — standard stool territory, roughly knee height for an adult. The designers position it as a balance of everyday function and sculptural silhouette, with the physical traces of its agricultural past left visible rather than sanded away.

Project details:

• Name: LE PRESSOIR
• Designers: Studio Jumel and Ariane Ronot
• Materials: reclaimed 1930s cider press wood, 3 mm brushed aluminum
• Dimensions: 45 cm H × 42 cm W × 42 cm D
• Photographer: Wallys.M

The project arrived via designboom's DIY submissions feature, which publishes reader-submitted work. It shows how far a single reclaimed component can travel: from a Normandy orchard tool to collectible seating, without erasing the evidence of its first job.