IDS Toronto has long been a place where conversations around design, fabrication, and material experimentation naturally intersect. For Acht Studio, IDS Toronto 2026 became more than a showcase. It marked a transition point. Alongside presenting a new collection of bespoke furniture pieces, the exhibition quietly introduced the studio’s next chapter: an evolution from Pompous Fox Wood Co. into a broader multidisciplinary practice focused on sculptural craftsmanship, material exploration, and functional precision.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The booth presented four furniture pieces, each exploring a different tension between material, form, and function — from the architectural geometry of a walnut credenza to the organic flow of a hand-shaped lounge chair.
IDS Toronto 2026
A booth centered around material honesty and sculptural form
IDS Toronto brings together a concentrated cross-section of the design world — interior designers, architects, developers, and tastemakers who move between booths looking for studios that can actually deliver on a concept. The energy at this year’s show leaned heavily toward material authenticity and craftsmanship you can see and touch, which aligned closely with what we brought.
The booth wasn’t designed to impress from a distance. It was designed to reward the walk-up. Every piece invited closer inspection — joinery details, surface texture, the weight of a drawer pull, the way a base resolves into a floor. Visitors who slowed down and engaged with the work tended to stay for a conversation, and those conversations were consistently the most valuable part of the week.
Designers and architects who stopped by weren’t asking generic questions. They were asking specific ones: about lead times, tolerances, our approach to shop drawings, how we handle material coordination on larger FF&E packages. That specificity told us the audience was right. The discussions that emerged throughout the show reaffirmed why being on the floor — in person, with actual work — continues to matter.
The collection also quietly introduced Acht Studio as a name. For many attendees, this was their first encounter with the brand. The booth design reflected that: confident without being loud, focused without being sparse. Four pieces, each strong enough to hold space on its own.
MCM Credenza
Warm material, architectural geometry
The credenza was built in solid walnut with CNC-machined door fronts and a honed marble top inlay. On paper, those are two very different processes — one is additive and tactile, the other is precise and repeatable. The piece works because those processes don’t fight each other. The CNC work creates the geometric rhythm across the door fronts; the hand finishing softens it.
Warm walnut paired with honed marble holds a balance that keeps it from tipping either too warm or too cold. That range makes it adaptable — it works in a high-end residential living space, a boutique hospitality setting, or a reception area where the material spec needs to carry some weight.
Functionally, it’s built to last. The construction reflects the same approach we bring to every piece: no shortcuts in joinery, no compromises on material selection. Furniture at this level should still be in the same space twenty years from now.
Sculptural Extension Dining Table
Exploring movement through a sculptural base
The Sculptural Extension Dining Table is the piece that generated the most conversation at the show — and the most surprise when extended.
The base was hand-shaped, which means no two curves are exactly the same, and the overall silhouette has a fluidity that’s nearly impossible to achieve through CNC alone. The form reads as pure sculpture when the table is closed. That’s intentional. At its standard size, this is a statement piece — the kind of furniture that anchors a room.
What changes when it extends is harder to describe until you see it. The butterfly mechanism is concealed within the base, and the extension process reveals geometry that isn’t visible in the closed position. The table doesn’t just get bigger — it changes character. The lines shift, the proportions open up, and the piece takes on a different presence. We spent a significant amount of time on that integration. Getting an extension mechanism to feel invisible inside a sculptural base, without compromising either the structure or the aesthetic, is not a simple engineering problem.
The result is furniture that earns its place in a room twice: as a sculptural object and as a fully functional, high-capacity dining table. Form and function aren’t in competition here — they’re the same thing.
Octave Coffee Table
A quieter study in texture, repetition, and storage
The Octave was the calmest piece in the booth, and intentionally so. White oak, stacked cylindrical legs, exposed joinery, proportions that don’t demand attention the way the other pieces do. It’s designed to anchor a seating arrangement without competing with it.
The leg detail is where the piece earns its name — the stacked cylinders create a rhythmic, almost musical repetition that gives the base a texture and depth that a standard leg profile wouldn’t. Up close, the joinery is visible and deliberate. We didn’t hide the construction; we made it part of the design.
White oak was the right material for this piece. It has a grain structure that rewards attention without being dramatic — lighter and more consistent than walnut, with a softness that fits the piece’s quieter proportions.
The storage is one of those details that matters more in practice than in a showroom. The lift top opens cleanly, the interior is accessible without awkward angles, and the mechanism doesn’t add visual bulk to the silhouette. It’s the kind of functionality that gets appreciated daily rather than remarked upon once.
Lounge Chair
Soft organic forms, built for comfort and presence
The lounge chair was built on an ash frame with leather upholstery sourced and applied in collaboration with a local craftsperson. That collaboration mattered to how the piece came together. The upholstery lines follow the frame flow directly — there’s a continuity between the ash structure and the leather that reads as one decision rather than two separate ones.
Ash is underused in this kind of application. It has a tight, consistent grain that machines cleanly and holds a shape well, which made it the right choice for a frame with this much curve. The result is a piece that looks as though it was carved from a single form rather than assembled.
Comfort was a design requirement, not an afterthought. Seating at this level often prioritizes presence over ergonomics — the result looks impressive but doesn’t invite you to actually sit down. We pushed against that. The proportions are designed to support a relaxed posture, and the depth of the seat and angle of the back were tested through prototyping, not assumed. It works equally well in a residential living space or a hospitality environment where the chair will see real use across a long day.
The piece is formal enough to make a statement and relaxed enough to mean it.
From Pompous Fox Wood Co. to Acht Studio
The beginning of something broader
The rebrand wasn’t a cosmetic decision. Pompous Fox Wood Co. was the right name for where the studio started — wood-focused, craft-forward, building its reputation one piece at a time. Acht Studio reflects where the work was already going: broader materials, closer collaboration with designers and architects, and a practice built around fabrication at multiple scales and in multiple mediums.
What’s new isn’t just the name. The studio now coordinates stone, metal, upholstery, and specialty finishes as part of a fully integrated process — one point of contact for the full material scope of a piece. The curiosity that drove the original woodworking work is the same curiosity driving that expansion: a desire to understand how materials behave, how they combine, and how precision fabrication and artistic intent can reinforce each other rather than compete.
The long-term vision is a studio known across Canada and the US for work that sits at the intersection of sculpture and function — pieces that hold their own in serious residential and hospitality environments and that reflect a clear point of view.
For the full story behind the transition, read more here.
IDS Toronto 2026 was the first major public showing of the Acht Studio brand. ICFF New York is next.
Closing
IDS Toronto 2026 offered an opportunity not only to present new furniture pieces, but to test ideas, gather feedback, and begin shaping the identity of Acht Studio in public. The conversations that emerged throughout the exhibition reinforced the studio’s belief that contemporary furniture is increasingly expected to do more than serve a function. It must create atmosphere, communicate material intent, and contribute to the broader identity of a space.
Thank you to everyone who visited the booth and took the time to connect with us throughout the show. These conversations continue to shape the direction of Acht Studio as the newly evolved brand enters its next chapter.
We have many exciting projects, collections, and collaborations ahead. To stay informed about upcoming pieces, exhibitions, and studio updates:
