Company: Trueform Concrete

Company URL: www.trueformconcrete.com

Product/Collection Name: Wabele Fireplace Surround Collection

About This Product: Wabele (Wah-bay-lah) is a new collection of sculptural concrete fireplace surrounds designed by acclaimed interior designer and artist Leyden Lewis, in collaboration with Trueform Concrete. Wabele brings a bold yet approachable energy, encouraging tactile interaction and reflection through its flowing curves and commanding silhouette.

The piece began as a hand-drawn sketch, a reimagining of a fireplace surround in a 1920s Emery Roth–designed apartment in Brooklyn. Inspired by the building’s Art Deco architecture and viewed through the lens of African-influenced modernist cubism, Lewis created a form that both honors architectural legacy and introduces something deeply personal. Wabele’s softened, biomorphic curves suggest skin, contour, and protection, a form that offers both intimacy and strength.

Crafted using Trueform’s architectural-grade concrete, the design transcends traditional fireplace surrounds. Trueform’s proprietary concrete mix and hand-finished surfaces allows for crisp lines, delicate curves, and sculptural precision, qualities that bring Leyden’s vision to life with elegance and clarity. Each piece is hand-poured and mold-cast at Trueform’s New Jersey facility, resulting in exceptional dimensional accuracy, smooth surfaces, and seamless edges that feel more like art than fabrication.

The Wabele fireplace surround is offered in a curated range of artisan-mixed finishes, from soft neutrals to rich charcoals. These tones aren’t painted or stained, they’re intrinsic to the material, developed for subtle movement and a sophisticated, tactile quality. The concrete is cool to the touch and substantial in weight, creating a multi-sensory experience that invites closeness and lingers in the memory.

The design is available in three variations, and each piece is custom-sized and finished to fit seamlessly within its surrounding space. Because Trueform Concrete manages both form-making and finishing in-house, customization is built into the process, making the fireplace surround easily adaptable for boutique commercial and high-end residential projects.

Wabele is not just a fireplace surround, it’s a visual and emotional anchor. It blurs the line between object and architecture, delivering a statement piece that balances sculptural boldness with a quiet, grounding presence. Lewis describes the design as an act of “summoning and manifesting imagination into the material world.” In that spirit, the Wabele line captures what design can do at its best: bring forth forms that feel both timeless and wholly new.

The name Wabele carries rhythmic and cultural resonance, reflecting Lewis’ connection to African diasporic heritage and spiritual aesthetics. Rooted in storytelling, memory, and presence, Wabele becomes a vessel for creative lineage and a deeper way of inhabiting space. Through the lens of both maker and material, the piece invites viewers to experience architecture with softness, sensuality, and soul.