When Loïc Le Gaillard & Julien Lombrail founded their first gallery in an old carpenter’s workshop in Chelsea, London, they had a vision to rethink the boundary between art and design. Seeing that functional objects – a chair, a table, a lamp – could evoke the same synaptic, emotional responses as traditional forms of art, they knew they had found their raison d’être.

After rejection from a major international art fair, Carpenters Workshop Gallery channelled their youthful energy into creating their own. Thanks to their fearless bravado, the design fair that began as a pop-up tent in Hanover Square, is now the booming and internationally renowned PAD London.

A sign of their early ambition, Carpenters Workshop Gallery moved from their secluded Chelsea space to Albemarle Street, Mayfair. The move announced the gallery’s ambitions to compete in the heart of the city, validating the seriousness of their intentions.

By now Carpenters Workshop Gallery had refined the transcendent qualities they valued in their artists, the exact type of design high they were chasing. The gallery participated in Design Miami/Basel for the first time, marking their presence on the international stage with the show NeverEverLand, featuring colossal works by Atelier van Lieshout.

Collaboration has always been prioritised at Carpenters Workshop Gallery. In partnership with Sotheby’s, Carpenters presented a monumental collection of sculptures in the gardens of Sudeley Castle, and soon after, following a Designer of the Future award win at Design Miami/Basel, the gallery oversaw Random International’s ambitious installation at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

Following several years of success in London, Carpenters Workshop Gallery opened its doors in Paris’ Marais District, in the old Galerie de France – one of the most prominent post-war galleries in Paris. Julien, who had committed everything to his move to London in 2006, returned home to head up the Paris gallery, a European base for Carpenters’ activity.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery participated in the Biennale des Antiquaires – the first contemporary design gallery ever to do so. This honourable inclusion was permitted thanks to Carpenters’ spirit and commitment to production methods true to 18th century techniques.

Riding their momentum, Carpenters Workshop Gallery continued its expansion to New York, giving their artists a permanent gallery space on Fifth Avenue, while also relocating to a much larger exhibition space in London. Meanwhile, Carpenters maintained a strong art fair presence at PAD London, Masterpiece, Design Miami/Basel, EXPO Chicago, and Zona Maco, and with foundations in London, Paris and New York, the core of the Carpenters we see today had taken shape.

The exhibition 10 Years of Collectible Design, at Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s newly opened workshop in Roissy, was a fitting celebration of their previous decade spearheading collecting categories and launching new markets around the world. The exhibition was a highlight reel of masterpieces from each of their artists: part playground, part party, a realisation of Loïc & Julien’s wildest dreams.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery continued its strong exhibition programme in 2017. Notable shows included Maarten Baas Hide & Seek at the Groningen Museum, the first survey exhibition of Robert Stadler at the Dresden State Art Collection, and Vincent Dubourg’s Vortex at Carpenters Workshop Gallery New York. Carpenters also maintained a strong presence at global art fairs, including PAD London & Paris, TEFAF, Design Miami/Basel, and FIAC Paris, which saw Atelier van Lieshout’s controversial Domestikator installed outside the Pompidou Centre.

Following the growth of an engaged collector base on the US East Coast, Carpenters Workshop Gallery launched their fourth permanent location in San Francisco in October. Housed in Saint Joseph’s Church, an ornate Romanesque Revival building, the unconventional architecture of the gallery space initiates a unique dialogue with the works displayed there.

Recognising the permeability between art and function, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, in partnership with the Lombard Odier Group, presented DYSFUNCTIONAL during the Venice Biennale 2019, followed by Dark Fantasy, in Beverly Hills, the gallery’s first presentation in Los Angeles, and broke new ground at ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, presenting works from Maarten Baas, Nacho Carbonell and Wendell Castle during a first appearance in China.

The launch of Carpenters Workshop Shop spearheaded the gallery’s digital revolution, providing young and new collectors with an online access point into the world of Collectible Design. The gallery’s updated online viewing rooms gave virtual exhibition spaces to artists including Aldo Bakker and Roger Herman, and complemented Paul Cocksedge’s acclaimed London exhibition, Slump.

A relentless drive for innovation continues to fuel Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s vision for the future. Pop-up exhibition spaces in both Aspen, Colorado, and the Hamptons, New York, will further Carpenters’ expansion in the US, accompanying a full exhibition schedule worldwide of Aki+Arnaud Cooren, Vincenzo de Cotiis, Kostas Lambridis, and Wonmin Park.

In the summer of 2022, Carpenters Workshop Gallery opened a  gallery in Los Angeles. The space was inaugurated with a solo exhibition by Spanish artist Nacho Carbonell, that transported visitors to experience the natural environments of Spain through the artist’s eyes. The gallery closed the year by presenting the works of Michele Lamy and Rick Owens, curated by Danny Minnick, in an exhibition that celebrated the vibrant skateboarding scene of LA, bringing it into the world of collectible design.    

April 2023 marked the relaunch of Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s flagship exhibition space in a new London location, Ladbroke Hall, Notting Hill. This historic building sets the scene for a new arts stage in London, celebrating creative expression in its many forms: contemporary art, collectible design, culture, dining, and music. The inaugural show features work from renowned British-Ghanian artist and architect, Sir David Adjaye, and the late Brazilian designer, Zanine Caldas.