Manufacturing

Gloster furniture is selected by the most demanding customers who insist on the best and so, we believe that we have to be the very best in all that we do - starting with the manufacturing.

Gloster has its own factory near Surabaya in Java, Indonesia which we started nearly 20 years ago. Here we use both traditional and modern methods to achieve production standards that usually well exceed those of most other indoor and outdoor furniture manufacturers. Our factory is located close to the teak plantations, is run by a European management team and currently employs over 1,000 people.

In addition to teak, Gloster is expert in the use of a variety of materials for the manufacture of our furniture. Extensive use is made of stainless steel, powder coated aluminium, man-made wicker and sling material and there are specialist departments within the factory entirely devoted to the working of these materials to the same high standards as our teak components.

We also work in partnership with a few select manufacturers who have specialist skills and techniques that we do not have in our own manufacturing plant. These factories have been chosen because of their ability to produce the highest quality consistent with our standards.

Here are a few things that we think are special about our manufacturing...

We orbital sand all our teak with very fine sand paper (320 grit), which gives the furniture a surface finish that is extremely soft to the touch. Furthermore, sanding the furniture this way also reduces the amount the grain will rise after the timber has been exposed to moisture.

All Gloster furniture is tested to international standards and where there aren't any, we create our own. These tests not only cover the furniture, but also the packaging.

Our joints are all machined to exacting tolerances - a key feature that ensures our furniture will last longer outdoors compared to our competitors. Each piece of furniture is assembled and then subsequently disassembled in the factory before packaging as a last check to ensure it lives up to our high standards.

Although furniture with teak of varying colours will eventually mellow to an even colour when exposed to the sun, we colour grade every piece of teak that goes into our furniture to ensure that the furniture has the best possible colour right out of the box.

Our teak furniture comes with solid teak dowels for the assembly of the product. These dowels are pre-dried to have almost zero moisture content. After the furniture is assembled and the dowels knocked-in, they absorb the moisture from the air and the surrounding wood, expand and create an extremely strong joint.

Our stainless steel components are made of certified AISI 304 stainless steel. For the welding of stainless steel we use TIG welding technology to ensure that the welds are corrosion resistant and have a consistent, small welding bead.

Powder coated furniture is pre-treated by coating the aluminium with chromium prior to powder coating. This ensures maximum corrosion resistance and coating adhesion.

To ensure maximum strength and corrosion resistance, we use one of the aluminium alloys (A356.2) commonly used in the aviation and automotive industry for the cast component in our aluminium furniture.