Custom made bookcases, crafted for your collection and your space.
Designed, engineered and made in Melbourne.
Every project begins with a consultation at your home or workplace, where we take the time to understand your requirements, discuss your ideas, and accurately measure the space.
From there, a detailed design is developed for your review. Once approved, your bookcase is meticulously crafted before being professionally installed with the same care and attention to detail that defines every stage of the process.
Who We Are
James’s passion for designing and building began in childhood and was encouraged by his parents from an early age. His third birthday brought a hammer, nails and a block of wood. By eight, he had an 18V cordless drill. At thirteen, an arc welder and angle grinder. Each gift fostered a curiosity for making and an appreciation for well-crafted objects.
He went on to study Industrial Design at RMIT University before building a career in business design, user experience design and product management. For more than a decade, James designed digital products and led multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex systems for some of Australia’s largest organisations.
During Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdowns, he leased a factory and transformed it into a dedicated workshop. While continuing his career in technology, he spent countless hours designing and building custom bookcases and furniture, steadily refining his craft.
Today, James has left the corporate world to devote himself full-time to Cantla, combining the precision of industrial design with the craftsmanship of fine furniture to create custom fitted bookcases designed to last for generations.
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