British design house The Monkey Puzzle Tree is set to unveil a new full-colour cork wallpaper design, Up Hill Down Dale, at Clerkenwell Design Week (May 19 - 21, 2026) in London.
The new wallcovering marks a significant technical development for the Leeds-based company, which is traditionally known for embracing heritage craftsmanship and artisanal production methods. The design has been created using an innovative digital printing process capable of printing white and full colour directly onto real cork wallpaper
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| 'Up Hill Down Dale' is the result of a collaboration between The Monkey Puzzel and Yorkshire artist Olivia Beau who uses acrylic paints and found items such as old maps to depict the beauty of the Yorkshire countryside where she grew up. |
Created in collaboration with Yorkshire painter and multimedia artist Olivia Beau, the panoramic design celebrates the changing beauty of the English countryside throughout the seasons. The artwork depicts sheep sheltering on the moors as spring blossom gives way to snow, while the vivid greens of summer transition into autumnal tones beneath circling red kites. Graphic contour lines inspired by vintage maps add a bold visual layer to the large-scale composition.
According to the company, the design was created entirely without the use of artificial intelligence and instead relied on traditional artistic techniques combined with extensive experimentation and sampling.
The wallpaper is produced in England using a highly specialised printing technique on natural cork, with production limited to just three metres per hour. The wallcovering measures 130cm (51 inches) wide and is sold by the metre, with installation carried out using a paste-the-wall application method and standard pre-mixed wallpaper paste.
Company founder Charlotte Raffo said the printing process requires patience due to the delicate nature of the machinery involved.
“‘Walter’ the printer is a little temperamental and doesn’t like to be rushed, and it takes an hour to print just 3m of this wallpaper, but we think it’s worth the wait,” she said.
Raffo added that development of the design began more than a year ago, starting with hand-drawn concepts before inviting Beau to help realise the final artwork.
“Olivia uses acrylic paints and found pieces such as vintage maps in her work. I particularly love the graphic elements created by the map contours,” Raffo said. “With a natural background like real cork, it’s quite challenging to make the colours complement and stand out, so there have been weeks of behind-the-scenes work and sampling to get the design just right.”
The Monkey Puzzle Tree has previously received widespread recognition for its cork wallpaper collections, including the award-winning Hit The North, created in collaboration with graphic artist Drew Millward, known for his psychedelic poster artwork for bands including Foo Fighters and Arctic Monkeys. The design seen above, inspired by Northern industry and creativity, received the prestigious Design Guild Mark Award in 2021 for excellence and innovation in British design.
The company has also won accolades including Best in British Product Design at the Brit List Awards and several subsequent Design Guild Marks. Its cork wallpapers gained further national attention following appearances on the BBC Two interior design programme Your Home Made Perfect.
Based in Leeds, The Monkey Puzzle Tree is an independent British design studio known for its artist-led fabrics and wallpapers.
Images from The Monkey Puzzle Tree.
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