Designer Magazine - October Issue

THE FUTURE DESIGN ISSUE

designer OCTOBER 2020 242

TIME FOR A RESET

Why now could be the start of a brave new world for both the home and workplace E

TH

SE 24 PTEM 1

H O

BE

SP

R 20

AL IT IT

20

Y E

SU

IS

d no sp In ho as

E M O e H rem ack M p b O s su ces FR ign un E re bo M on ity O vati ital

H Bo d pan

gner

K IN TH RE A ost R ap FO for re E eas futu TIM ld id emic

si

Th w le is on mp

CE N ner d RE esig re an FE d pu IF ch s D Fren ing th CK dary ing hing AR gen ep eryt ST e le hy ke ev

Desi

Cove

r Final

241

.indd

1

IN CR PR SPIR EA OJ IN TIV EC G ITY T

CRE ATIV ITY

¥

ADV ERS ITY ¥

2020

er gn si de 20/08

/2020

21:46

E

TH

M 23 AY 20 7 20

SIR TERENCE CONRAN

O

IS

TIO LA

The British design visionary who set the lifestyle agenda

N

IS

gner

SU

Desi

r Final

E

Cove

237.i

ndd

1

IN CR PR SPIR EA OJ IN TIV EC G ITY T

22/04

/2020

11:20

IN THE RUNNING

The 2020 Designer Awards shortlists revealed

INSPIRING PROJECT CREATIVITY

a-chair

halm

break

due

lift

ANCILLARY

MENU

A-Chair

01-09

For more, visit our brand new interactive site brunner-uk.com

JOIN US ONLINE FOR AN

AWARDS CEREMONY

18 NOVEMBER 2020 @ 3PM

IRTUAL THE DESIGNER AWARDS

designerawardsuk.com

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 242

British design lost one of its most influential figures last month with the passing of Sir Terence Conran. The term ‘visionary’ can be overused at times, but in Conran’s case, it really does go to the heart of his exceptional achievements.

He saw before anyone else, the untapped demand among consumers for a new way of living, yearning to move on from the austerity of the post-war period to embrace a fresh, optimistic, and altogether happier lifestyle.

As with many innovations, people don’t always realise that they can’t live without something until someone has actually put it in front of them, and this goes some way to explaining the cultural change that took hold when Conran opened the doors of his first Habitat store to an unsuspecting public in the mid-1960s. Its offerings – including duvets, woks, and paper lanterns – represented a melting pot of influences, including Scandinavian and French, all brought together in a modern and thoroughly original way.

Writing in the Guardian, Conran’s long-time collaborator Stephen Bayley wrote that Sir Terence “turned ‘design’ from being a description of something people do, to a commodity: something you can buy in his shops”.

M ar t in

Martin Allen-Smith Editor, Designer

e: martin@thedsgroup.co.uk w: designerati.co.uk

@designeratiUK designeratiUK @designeratiUK

SOCIAL

So it is rather apt that in our Future Design Issue, we pay tribute to a man whose understanding of – and ability to shape – the future continues to exert influence on British interior design even today.

His work inspired a generation to look beyond the domestic status quo and strive for something better, bringing comfort, happiness and a far wider appreciation of design than had ever existed in Britain before. That’s quite some legacy.

designerati

07

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 242

CONTENTS

18 12 SOURCE Our monthly round-up of the people, products and events that matter from across the design sector

now, so clever and creative designs are more important than ever in considering how the workplace needs to look and function in the years ahead

18 SIR TERENCE CONRAN Looking back over the extraordinary life of one of the true giants of British design

38 DESIGNING FOR CONVENIENCE A host of top designers turned their creative attention to bringing new visual life to one of society’s more purely functional buildings – the public toilet

22 REDESIGNING THE OFFICE Designer asked a round table of experts from designers, architects and engineers through to flexible workspace operators for their views on how the workplace will look in a post Covid-19 world 28 THE FUTURE OF HOME TECH What are the main developments on the horizon for technology in the home? The first of a two-part series explores the possibilities for the future home and its inhabitants 32 ADAPT TO THRIVE The role of the office is facing all sorts of searching questions right

08

32

44 LIVING FOR THE FUTURE A competition to develop ideas on a fresh approach to future housing challenges sees innovative entries that challenge current thinking on planning, layout, and the materials we use in the home 50 BOLD SIMPLICITY Creating strong, characterful aesthetics while maintaining subtlety and warmth is no easy feat, but this home utilises just the right levels of material, light and space to do exactly that

54 FAMILY TREE Hugh and Howard Miller bring their distinct yet complementary skills together for projects from the H. Miller Bros studio, showcasing some of what can be achieved through the beauty of wood and other natural materials 60 NEXT LEVEL Spatial creativity is often limited to the horizontal perspective, but when the internal space can be reconfigured to take the eye between the different floors of a home, it means the design potential is really looking up 66 EXIT Intricate style in a finely-crafted marble basin from Antonio Lupi

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 242

60 38

54 44

50

09

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 / ISSUE 242

designerati.co.uk

EDITORIAL EDITOR MARTIN ALLEN-SMITH martin@thedsgroup.co.uk CONTRIBUTOR HELEN PARTON PUBLISHING PUBLISHING DIRECTOR CLARA DEEKS clara@thedsgroup.co.uk MANAGING DIRECTOR ALLISTAIR HUNTER OPERATIONS DIRECTOR TRACY MEAD ADVERTISING PORTFOLIO MANAGER STUART SINCLAIR stuart@thedsgroup.co.uk SALES EXECUTIVE LAUREN MUNSON lauren@thedsgroup.co.uk

MARTIN ALLEN-SMITH

CLARA DEEKS

HELEN PARTON

DOM LITTLER

STUART SINCLAIR

MARKETING CREATIVE MARKETING MANAGER DOM LITTLER dom@thedsgroup.co.uk PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR LEE THOMAS GRAPHIC DESIGNER BEN EMMERSON PRINT SALES MANAGER DAVID GILBERT SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER DONNA FENNELL ADMINISTRATOR KIM BLACK To subscribe email subscriptions@thedsgroup.co.uk or phone 020 3538 0268. Only those who meet the terms of our controlled circulation are eligible to receive a free copy of Designer Magazine. If you do not reach the criteria, subscription rates are UK £35, Europe £70, Worldwide £115

Designer Magazine is published monthly by The DS Group 7 Faraday Close, Oakwood Industrial Estate, Clacton-On-Sea, Essex CO15 4TR thedsgroup.co.uk Tel: 020 3538 0268

Why compromise? +44 (0)1761 241133 sales@bathroom-engineering.co.uk www.bathroom-engineering.co.uk The Boat House, Wirral Park, Glastonbury, Somerset, England BA6 9XE

Bathroom Engineering Ltd. is a joint venture and the sole U.K. trading division of TECE GmbH

Choose the design and the finish to match your high standards.

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020

Free Flow 12

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020

designerati.co.uk Workplace furniture brand Bene has launched its new PORTS range.

Designed by London-based studio Pearson Lloyd, the office concept has been created to offer new, more fluid styles of working.

With a name combining maritime, technological and management references, PORTS includes individual units intended to function as nodes in a network where information is exchanged. The range spans the three product areas of tables, lounge furniture and storage and aims to enable spaces for private focus, formal meetings, or relaxed conversation.

Tom Lloyd, Co-founder of Pearson Lloyd, said: “The market for executive offices and furniture is still defined in terms of hierarchy and old concepts of status, without considering the users’ needs; the market has not changed for over a century. PORTS offers a new way to define what a workspace looks like and how it functions.”

Bene / bene.com Pearson Lloyd / pearsonlloyd.com

13

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020

Recruitment and training firm The Simon Acres Group is mentoring and supporting a young designer who is looking to build a career in furniture design. Joseph Boobier, a 3D design graduate from Manchester School of Art, was noticed by Director Simon Acres when he exhibited at a Furniture Makers’ Company (FMC) exhibition last year.

Cultivating Creativity

“I was impressed by Joseph’s design flair and enthusiasm,” said Acres. “He was exhibiting an innovative back-to-back chair inspired by political conflicts, that really stood out and I was impressed by his story. Joseph is already benefiting from the support of the FMC but I felt that we could offer him more, utilising our contacts in the industry and the skills and expertise of our consultants and staff.

The Resolution Chair designed by Joseph Boobier

“We have introduced Joseph to a leading high street retailer that is providing valuable advice and our in-house digital marketing team are working on the launch of a website and social media channels.

The chair is under production with a specialist manufacturer and we are working with Joseph to market this to independent retailers and designers.”

Boobier said: “I am grateful to Simon Acres Group for all their support. Building a business from startup is no easy task, especially in the current climate. Having access to so many people to talk to about my ideas, and provide guidance is invaluable.”

Joseph Boobier Design / josephboobier.com Simon Acres Group / simonacres.co.uk

14

FILL 300 BOTTLES FOR FREE

THE TAP THAT DOES IT ALL 100°C BOILING, CHILLED AND SPARKLING WATER With a Quooker in your kitchen you always have 100ºC boiling water alongside regular hot and cold.

Add a CUBE and you will also have chilled, filtered sparkling water – all from the same tap.

When you purchase a CUBE at quooker.co.uk, installation is just £99† plus you will receive 5 CO2 cylinders FREE – the equivalent of 300 litre-bottles of sparkling water.

Only when you quote code DKB/10.

Go to quooker.co.uk for our autumn offer.* Manchester Showroom – Open Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 16.00 *Already have a Quooker tap? Visit quooker.co.uk to see if your system is compatible with a Quooker CUBE. Call 0345 833 3333 or email enquiries@quooker.co.uk for help. †Usually £384.

DESIGNER MAGAZINE DESIGNER AWARDS 2020

Designer Awards 2020

Next month sees the winners of the 18th annual Designer Awards revealed at our grand awards presentation. Here we announce this year’s project finalists as well as the longlisted products that are in the running for the top prizes…

It has of course been a far from normal year. Many projects, plans, products and exhibitions have been curtailed as a result of lockdown and the other measures being taken to combat the pandemic.

In such times, it is as perhaps as important as ever to shine a light on the positive and highly creative work that is going on in the industry however, which is why this year’s Designer Awards promises to offer a vital ray of light during what have been some dark times.

Entry numbers were lower this year due to the disruption suffered by many within the industry, but the quality was once again highly impressive across a range of categories, from the lower-end of the budget to the ultra-high value schemes. There was also a particularly diverse range of projects submitted from around the world for the International Design of the Year honour.

This year’s expert panel includes leading figures from interior design, architecture and product design. The panel judged most of the core award categories, with the Designer editorial team weighing up the entries in other sections. Allen-Smith said: “It has been a very tough year for

16

many within the sector, but we’ve been impressed with the quality and quantity of entries despite the trying circumstances. It’s clear that many design studios, retailers, and architects – as well as manufacturers – have tried to maintain the closest thing they can to ‘business as usual’, and it’s an impressive feat of resilience.”

For the first time in the history of the competition, judges assessed entries remotely this year, to minimise travel and ensure social distancing. “It’s certainly been different this time,” added AllenSmith. “But every one of the judges on our panel takes this process extremely seriously and they have been as thorough as ever in considering the projects. We look forward to featuring many of these superb schemes in the magazine over the coming months.”

The awards presentations take place on Thursday 18 November at the Grand Connaught Rooms in Central London in front of a gathering of leading figures from across the industry. Limited tickets are still available for what will be a COVID-safe event which will adhere to all required social distancing precautions.

To book your place, contact awards@thedsgroup.co.uk or call 020 3538 0268.

Designer Awards 2020 / designerawardsuk.com

DESIGNER MAGAZINE DESIGNER AWARDS 2020

BATHROOM DESIGN OF THE YEAR (UNDER £20k) Lynsey Rowe, Obsidian Interiors Pippa Paton, Pippa Paton Design Marc Cashmore, Marc Cashmore Design @ Ablutions Luxury Bathrooms BATHROOM DESIGN OF THE YEAR (OVER £20k) James King, Ogle (UK) Pippa Paton, Pippa Paton Design Richard McGee, Studio SW6 ULTIMATE LUXURY BATHROOM DESIGN OF THE YEAR Alison Evans, Obsidian Interiors Pippa Paton, Pippa Paton Design Mark Fowdon, Studio One South West KITCHEN DESIGN OF THE YEAR (UNDER £30k) John McNeal, Haus12 Interiors Robert Waite, Rencraft Lynn Coyle, Silver Birch Interiors KITCHEN DESIGN OF THE YEAR (OVER £30k) Hugh Miller, H.Miller Bros Charles Elwell, Kitchens by Holloways Robert Waite, Rencraft ULTIMATE LUXURY KITCHEN DESIGN OF THE YEAR Pippa Paton, Pippa Paton Design Oli Moss, Roundhouse Tony Lister & Simon Taylor, Simon Taylor Furniture LIVING SPACE DESIGN OF THE YEAR Elizabeth Pantling-Jones, Lima Kitchens Paul McAneary, Paul McAneary Architects Pippa Paton, Pippa Paton Design INTERNATIONAL DESIGN OF THE YEAR Morgan Cronin, Cronin Kitchens Charlie Hearn, Inspiral Architecture and Design Mal Corboy, Mal Corboy Design NEW DESIGNER OF THE YEAR Josie Harris-Taylor, Kia Designs Sophie Reid, Kitchen Connection of Ascot Robyn Hennessey, Poggenpohl Group UK BRITISH DESIGN & MANUFACTURING AWARD Julia Brown, Mowlem & Co Robert Waite, Rencraft Tomas Hinton, Tomas Kitchen Living BEST USE OF MATERIALS Fiona Woodall, Colliers Kitchens David Conlon, En Masse Bespoke Interiors Paul McAneary, Paul McAneary Architects

SHOW SPACE DESIGN OF THE YEAR Brunner, London Collins Bespoke, Ashford James James, West Kirby Roccia, Preston Sixteen3, London INNOVATION IN BATHROOM PRODUCT DESIGN (LONGLIST) Acquabella – Smart Quiz Collection ArtiCAD – ArtiVR Bette – BetteSpace Duravit – Happy D2 Plus C Shape GROHE – Rainshower SmartConnect 310 Pelipal – LEDrelax RAK Ceramics – RAK-Feeling TOTO – Washlet RW VitrA – Voyage by Arik Levy INNOVATION IN KITCHEN PRODUCT DESIGN (LONGLIST) Bertazzoni – Modern Series F6011MODVPTC BORA – BORA X Pure Cosentino – Dekton Liquid Daval Furniture – Renzo ECOMO - ECOMO Franke – Maris Free by Dror Cooker Hood Marrone+Mesubim – C3 Mereway Kitchens – Q-Line Miele – Miele VitroLine H7860BP Oven Rotpunkt – Cube Schuller – Optimus Smeg – Dolce Stil Novo VIVOscreen Oven Westin Cooker Hoods – Stratus Mono INNOVATION IN COMMERCIAL PRODUCT DESIGN (LONGLIST) Amtico – Signature Collection Social Distancing Floor Designs Arper – Adell Bene - PORTS Dare Studio – Oxbow Dyson – Airblade 9kJ GROHE – Bau Cosmopolitan E Infra-red Tap Loft Furniture – RePlus Rawside – Pitstop Whiteleaf Furniture – Vertex Range Other categories to be revealed at the Designer Awards 2020: SERVICES TO THE INDUSTRY AWARD DESIGN CLASSIC MARK WILKINSON AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

17

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OBITUARY

Sir Terence Conran 4 October 1931 - 12 September 2020

I

t is almost impossible to overexaggerate the influence Sir Terence Conran had on design in Britain and further afield, writes Grahame Morrison. He continued to promote the best of British design, culture and the arts around the world, and at the heart of everything he did was a very simple belief that good design improves the quality of people’s lives.

At Designer, we have special memories of an association with Sir Terence. As recently as February 2020 he and his office provided background material for our Bauhaus feature. The first Designer Awards took place in one of his London restaurants, where he was a guest speaker and presented the prizes to the category winners.

His whole life was one of rich creativity and bold ideas. The young Terence Conran spent some of his teenage years in Paris. Here he learned to cook and also developed an interest in domestic accessories from visiting the City’s flea markets, before he enrolled in Central School of Arts & Crafts in 1948.

In 1949, he began making and selling furniture from a studio in East London in order, he said, to pay a very large gas bill. And in 1951 he worked at the Festival of Britain where, he said in a recent television interview, he was excited by the enthusiasm of

its younger visitors for new design.

Conran & Company opened in 1952, initially selling furniture from a showroom in Piccadilly Arcade, but the turning point in British interiors came in 1964 when he opened the first Habitat in London’s Fulham Road.

To really appreciate what a revolution Habitat was, you have to remember how dire shopping for furniture and other interior items was in the 1950’s and early sixties.

For young people trying to set up home, their furniture choice was limited to either family hand-medowns designed for a bygone, pre-war age, second hand goods of dubious parentage or ‘utility’ furniture built for the lowest price per unit. Habitat, with its store full of bright new affordable designs from around Britain, Europe and further afield was a world away from what had gone before.

A Design Revolution Such was its success, it was not unusual to find queues outside the Fulham Road shop, and the second shop in Tottenham Court Road when that opened in 1965. It was actually rare to find a home in England in the 1970’s that did not have at least one item from Habitat, even it was just a bean bag seat in the corner of the lounge, a Chinese paper globe light fitting, or a chicken brick in the kitchen.

Prior to opening Habitat, Terence Conran had already opened restaurants in London and throughout the sixties and onwards he expanded both his restaurant chain – which included Pont de la Tour, Bibendum, Orrery, Quaglino’s and Mezzo – and Habitat branches. In the sixties and seventies, the Conran Design Group and then Conran Associates carried out a number of acquisitions including Mothercare, the iconic Michelin Building in Fulham Road and London’s Great Eastern Hotel in partnership with Wyndham International.

In 1985, he created Conran Octopus with Paul Hamlyn to produce books about interiors, gardening and cookery. And in 1989 he opened The Design Museum, ironically, just down river from the site of the Festival of Britain.

And on 24 November 2016 he cut the ribbon to open the new Design Museum in Kensington High Street, which went on to welcome 780,000 visitors in its first year.

The Design Museum is a fitting tribute to the designer that has shaped the lives of so many people.

And over sixty years after he first sold furniture to pay a utility bill, the appeal of the work of Sir Terence Conran is still strong, and still improving the quality of people’s lives.

19

DESIGNER MAGAZINE OBITUARY

MAKING SENSE OF DESIGN

Sir Terence Conran founded the Design Museum in London in 1989 following an innovative start as the Boilerhouse in the basement of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The museum later relocated to Kensington, West London.

Leading architect John Pawson converted the interior of a 1960s modernist building to create a new home for the Design Museum giving it three times more space in which to show a wider range of exhibitions and significantly extend its learning programme. Its work encompasses all elements of design, including fashion, product and graphic design. It has staged over 100 exhibitions, welcomed over seven million visitors and showcased the work of some of the world’s most celebrated designers and architects including Paul Smith, Zaha Hadid, Jonathan Ive, Frank Gehry, Eileen Gray and Dieter Rams.

Conran’s ongoing commitment and support to the museum was recognised with a medal for Arts Philanthropy in 2012 and in 2017 the Queen awarded him the Order of the Companions of Honour

There at the start

for his major contribution to the arts. He was also the subject of a monographic exhibition The Way We Live Now at the Design Museum in 2011 to coincide with his 80th birthday.

Tim Marlow, Director and Chief Executive of the Design Museum, said: “Terence Conran was instrumental in the re-designing of post-War Britain and his legacy is huge. He is revered by generations of designers from Mary Quant and David Mellor to Thomas Heatherwick and Jonny Ive. He changed the way we lived and shopped and ate. He also created a great institution – the Design Museum – of which he was justifiably proud and with which he remained fully engaged right to the end of his extraordinary life. It was a privilege and an inspiration to know him.”

Deyan Sudjic, Director Emeritus, Design Museum said: “No one has done more to create modern Britain than Terence Conran. He spent his whole career looking for ways to make life better for everyone.”

This year’s Designer Awards, which take place at London’s Grand Connaught Rooms on 18 November, will be dedicated in memory of Sir Terence Conran. The very first Designer Awards was held at Conran’s Mezzo restaurant 18 years ago, with Sir Terence personally presenting the prizes. Martin Allen-Smith, Editor of Designer, said: “Sir Terence Conran was a towering icon of British design whose influence on British lifestyle is unsurpassed. We are proud that Sir Terence was there at the formation of the Designer Awards and feel it is fitting for us to salute his pivotal role in shaping the modern British home.”

20

Luv. Nordic elegance.

The design of Cecilie Manz‘ bathroom series Luv combines Nordic purism and timeless, emotional elegance. Soft shapes follow a stringent geometry. The result is a new unique design language with precise, clear and fine edges. For more information visit pro.duravit.co.uk and www.duravit.co.uk.

DESIGNER MAGAZINE T H E P O S T- C O V I D W O R K P L A C E

Redesigning the Office for a Post-Covid World

Words: Helen Parton

Designer asked a round table of experts from designers, architects and engineers through to flexible workspace operators for their views on how the workplace will look in a post Covid-19 world According to Leesman, a consultancy which specialises in gathering data about workplace effectiveness, 81% of respondents in one of its latest surveys believed that their home environment enables them to be productive while a slightly higher proportion indicated they have all the information they needed for the work they do at home.

So clearly there’s some work to do in persuading people to return to the office and at the time of writing, the government’s rallying cry for a wholesale shift from homeworking just hasn’t happened.

Design can play its part in all of this of course as our panel expand upon: from the technology that enables staff to feel reassured and safe as they enter office buildings to the visible design features such as space planning, materials and colours to those they can’t such as air circulation. Homeworking for a lot of people is clearly here to stay and so it was also interesting to ask the panel to consider how the fundamental design principles from a domestic set-up can influence workplace design in the short and longer term, as well as what people gain from being at a desk or a break-out space instead of their kitchen table.

22

ADRIAN GRAY

Group Director with engineers HDR | Hurley Palmer Flatt There isn’t a magic bullet but certainly among the things that can be done to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 is to look at ventilation.

Ventilation with fresh air is good as it reduces the potential concentration of the virus and therefore lowers the risk of picking up an infection. For this reason, it is advantageous to get as much fresh air into the space as possible, maximising the performance of mechanical systems and extending the hours of operation to purge the space.

I believe that people really feel safer in a building when they themselves are able to open a window and I see ‘mixed mode’ buildings with ventilation that can be controlled by occupants becoming more common.

Touchless technology can mean that you can enter a building, enter the lift and arrive at the floor you require without having to push a button. The same goes for toilets. Whether we like to talk about it nor not, Covid-19 can also be contracted from faecal to oral transmission. There are ways you can enter the bathroom and lock the toilet door behind you without touching it, self-opening and self-closing toilets as well as taps with sensors that we’re familiar with. As far as selection of materials goes, research shows that the virus dies very quickly when it comes into contact with copper, that is currently

what the science is telling us. So copper or copper/nickel might be materials that would be beneficial to include on doorknobs, taps, handrails, toilet flushes as the virus dies in a very short space of time on them.

There are some very encouraging other emerging technologies, such as UVC lighting which can be used to clean spaces or inside ductwork to clean the air. You need to take care though as UVC light is very dangerous if you come in direct contact with it.

Something else I see an interest developing in is bipolar ionisation.

Historically, this has been used to clean the air in medical and food production applications. Laboratory tests have shown that when ionised air is supplied to a space will eliminate Covid-19 from air and surfaces in a short space of time so has the potential to be used in a wider range of applications.

“It’s not necessary to do anything overly dramatic – just look at human behaviours and how they relate to the physical environment”

DESIGNER MAGAZINE T H E P O S T- C O V I D W O R K P L A C E

LAURA O’HAGAN “Break-out spaces were really a luxury created where it was financially possible to do so but now, they are very necessary to ensure distancing.”

Director with architects Buckley Gray Yeoman Approaching the post-Covid workplace is something we’ve been looking at and talking to clients about a lot recently.

Firstly, we’re asking ourselves what the reason people go to the office is: collaboration and that sense of office culture. Those are things you can’t get from home. Now more than ever the design of the office has to reflect that company culture and sense of place for people coming in, away from their homes.

Design can help answer these questions.

There’s definitely going to be an increase in agile working. Flexibility and agility are the things that are going to keep offices relevant and desirable.

There’s an opportunity for design to help in this new way of working, rather than relying on signage, lines on the floor and plastic screens. Occupancies are going to have to be reconsidered towards a sweet spot where offices can create flexible layouts, taking into account social distancing, with a focus on flexible furniture that can easily be rearranged. There are also new opportunities to be playful because we’re no longer tied to those old norms with rows and rows of desks.

Before, break-out spaces were really a luxury created where it was financially possible to do so but now, they are very necessary to ensure distancing.

We need to be creating offices that are as attractive to work in as at your home, for instance being able to sit near a window with natural light or near plants.

Materials are going to be more reflective of your home, more comfortable, more tactile, like natural materials such as wood for the floors as opposed to carpet. Colour palettes are going to be more earthy against a palette of pastels, quite a domestic feel.

Comfort is going to be huge, that way of informal working that is about softening the space, allowing people to work more collaboratively and more freely. I’d liken it to why go to a café instead of making a coffee at home or going to a restaurant when you could cook something yourself. I firmly believe that people will go to the office again, we just have to make it relevant for them.

23

DESIGNER MAGAZINE T H E P O S T- C O V I D W O R K P L A C E

KATRINA LARKIN

Co-Founder and Head of Experience with flexible workspace operator Fora The first thing we did when the UK locked down was form a core group made up of operations, FM and commercial, to really make sure we worked together to understand our residents’ needs.

We work upon the ethos that to them, Fora is their home and you need that community around you. Fora partnered with the Cleveland Clinic in the USA, so we were able to make decisions based on what they were saying, creating a very safe space to return to work. It was really important to be able to adapt our spaces.

Enrico [Sanna, co-founder and CEO of Fora] and I made a film showing residents what to expect from our buildings when they return. There are now handwashing facilities in the foyer and there is also thermal imaging, which is a non-intrusive way to check people’s temperatures.

We’ve increased the airflow using stateof-the-art ventilation and there are hands free, zero touch washrooms.

We want to treat people as adults.

This is their home so we very carefully considered the colours, messaging and signage we used. We didn’t want to have an entrance which was just ‘2 metres apart’ signs. This is why we worked with the artist Frea Buckler on a series of vibrant installations in a graphic-style entitled ‘Onwards’ at the entrance of all of our locations in London and also in Reading. Elsewhere, we have adapted

24

all the meeting rooms reducing the capacity and increased our cleaning regimes accordingly.

In terms of still maintaining that sense of community, we initially switched everything to online but events are now hybrid so you can also watch them online, as well as in person. We’ve starting a new talks series with Champs, who are a mental wealth consultancy, and another called Boom where people who are creating ideas within their sectors talk through their experience. We’ve also recently signed a lease on an office building in Cambridge. Fora has always been an ambitious company and based on our success at our Reading space, it made sense to offer opportunities within other locations outside London.

“We want to treat people as adults… so we very carefully considered the colours, messaging and signage we used”

DESIGNER MAGAZINE T H E P O S T- C O V I D W O R K P L A C E

“What Covid has really brought out is the need for wellness in the workplace, with much more of a focus on health and safety in the long term”

TIM GLEDSTONE

Partner, Squire & Partners architects From working like battery chickens, I think what people want in an office now is to be more free range, that’s essential. What Covid has really brought out is the need for wellness in the workplace, with much more of a focus on health and safety in the long term.

A human solution is having more space with lower density. When we designed our own offices – the Department Store in Brixton – we recognised this, so everyone has their own workstation and then another adjacent space. Also,

we all need to amplify the creativity sometimes, whether that’s gathering in a group or having somewhere where you can be quiet. At the Department Store, we looked at how we work best and how to engender creativity and flair. We wanted to do things that would generate better collective thinking. Everyone who comes to visit us is blown away by how calm and relaxing the space is but there’s also an energy to it. That was achieved through the generosity of space compared with our old space which had large desks but only a little bit of café space. To us, having an office is having a brand presence.

In terms of materials, I don’t think there should be a kneejerk reaction to make everything super sanitised. Instead you should look to the materials that can be most appropriately in the long term. It’s

not just about the levels of sanitation. If we use leather, yes that’s a luxury material but it’s also very durable and can be cleaned; parquet flooring can be sanded down. You can use paints like the Keim paint brand, which do not emit toxins into the air. And you do not have to have an automatic door, you could instead have a door person.

Really the Department Store was already Covid-19 ready and we’ve applied what we’ve learned there to other projects.

The next phase, the Department Store Studios, is a mix of shared workspaces and private studios which have access to social and meeting areas. There are generous floor-to-ceiling heights, openable windows and a really beautiful façade in brick and stone. Why go to Oxford Circus to an office when you can stay hyper local?

25

DESIGNER MAGAZINE T H E P O S T- C O V I D W O R K P L A C E

BEN GILLAM

Founder/Owner at workplace consultancy ThirdWay With the take up of technology, Covid-19 has meant work has become ever more intrusive in people’s lives than being able to check emails after hours or on holiday. Often, it’s also taking up a lot of space at home. With our Hybrid Working programme, which we launched in May, we aimed to respond in an appropriate way to businesses navigating their return to the workplace.

We’re creating a stable solution for the future, balancing office and remote settings and supporting individuals to work safely and productively from the office, home, or other locations. The concept uses three phases.

The first, ‘Fit For Now’ looks at practical measures such as social distancing marking, removing furniture, introducing temporary signage for one-way systems and lifts, essentially fast tracking evaluations and plans over two weeks. The second is called ‘Fit for Tomorrow’ and looks at more permanent adjustments and on-site refurbishments, including new furniture, technology, AV and telecommunications upgrades, as well as working from home assessments so that remote and office-based workers are more aligned.

‘Fit For the Future’ is the final phase, over 12-36 months and includes a full building and cost evaluation, including the introduction of satellite offices, helping businesses to reduce property costs and increase productivity for the long-term.

26

We also identified four tiers of business to come out of the crisis which are the Business As Usual, The Temporary Pivoter, The Shape Shifter, and The ReInventor. Each one of those will require different amounts of intervention. If businesses are currently operating on a remote working to office based ratio of 90:10 and it was the other way around pre-lockdown then the new ideal ratio will vary between 25:75, 50:50, 75:25.

The message we’re trying to get across is that it’s not necessary to do anything overly dramatic – just look at human behaviours and how they relate to the physical environment. For example, we looked at how to make spaces more Zoom-friendly in terms of acoustics and how to present to clients if they are unable to attend in person. Looking at the flexible office sector, I’d say two thirds of operators will stay and a third will go. Landlords will increasingly be offering a CAT A+ solution where tenants can fit out a space more how they require and on much more flexible lease terms.

“It’s not necessary to do anything overly dramatic – just look at human behaviours and how they relate to the physical environment”

DESIGNER MAGAZINE HOME TECHNOLOGY

The Future of Home Tech What are the main developments on the horizon for technology in the home? In the first of a two-part series, Helen Mitchell, Chief Strategy Officer for tech specialist events company Ignition, explores the possibilities for the future home and its inhabitants‌

28

DESIGNER MAGAZINE HOME TECHNOLOGY

Wi-Charge wireless charging

T

he word ‘smart’ is often misleading when it comes to home tech. Devices are not just ‘smart’ because the are digitallyconnected; truly smart devices use some form of AI – machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing or similar – to learn, think and eventually make quite sophisticated decisions.

In practice however, home-tech has often fallen down at a much earlier and much less intelligent stage, thanks to incompatible platforms, making last December’s announcement from tech giants Amazon, Apple and Google that they are forming a joint new working group to develop a royalty-free connectivity standard to increase compatibility very welcome indeed.

Advances are also now afoot to counter another very basic frustration: the messy wiring and proliferation of batteries that smarter homes have brought in their wake,

especially challenging for interior designers, who have been forced to find endless clever ways to disguise the resulting unsightliness.

Wireless charging is finally on its way, however, from providers such as Wi-Charge, whose R1 ultracompact chargers plug into light or power sockets. Alternately, their technology can be embedded directly into devices by partnering brands.

The chargers distribute power with pinpoint accuracy via infrared beams within a 30-foot (9 m) range.

Keeping Unwanted Visitors Out Technological advances for the home tend to begin outside the front door. 41% of British adults report that they are more concerned than ever about home security, making this a major growth area.

Cutting-edge products include Oval Home’s multipurpose sensors, which can detect changes in temperature, light, humidity or

motion to protect against theft, damage or extreme environmental conditions, while the Ares outdoor camera by Amsterdam-based Amaryllo promises increased security via biometric facial and voice recognition, as well as a 360° capacity to track moving objects.

Managing Resources Energy efficiency is increasingly important for house-buyers, especially those buying new-build properties.

There is a growing demand for selfsufficiency through zero-energy net use and holistic energy management systems, with some new-builds even offering the potential for owners to sell-on surplus electricity.

The consumer appetite for sustainable consumption is also being directed towards water scarcity. Innovations include the new Rocean One water appliance, which can carbonate, flavour and filter water straight from the tap,

29

DESIGNER MAGAZINE HOME TECHNOLOGY

Ares outdoor camera by Amaryllo

OVAL sensor from Oval Digital

Hydraloop water recycler

eliminating the need for plasticbottled soft drinks, whilst the Hydraloop household water recycler – winner of three CES ‘Best of ’ Innovation Awards at the global tech show – recycles 85% of all domestic water. The system works by cleaning and disinfecting shower, bath and washing-machine greywater for re-use for toilet flushing, machine washing, gardens or pools and reduces overall water consumption by 45%.

correspondingly huge competition between major manufacturers to be the first to deliver not only autonomous, mobile and affordable but truly useful robots, means first iterations should be with us very, very soon. Who will successfully tap this market’s true potential, however – with the overall AI market set to grow to nearly £150bn by 2025 – remains to be seen.

code and the Voiceitt App, which helps those with motor impairment communicate more easily. The inevitable jump to home devices cannot be too far behind.

Here Come the Robots The promise of robots to take away the most monotonous daily household tasks has been a scifi fantasy for decades, but whilst industry has seen huge advances in automation, the hoped-for ideal domestic environment in which the most boring chores are undertaken by robots, is not quite with us yet, with the exception of limited or precision-based tasks. Nonetheless, huge interest in this field and the

Tech Inclusivity Ultimately, smart homes will adapt to the behaviour and preferences of a whole family or group of co-habitors on a personalised basis, identifying who’s home and predicting preferences accordingly.

Accessibility will be increasing areas of focus too, with devices becoming ability-aware. We’re starting to see progress outside the home, such as the Code Jumper device from nonprofit American Printing House for the Blind, which helps children with visual impairments learn to

Ignition / ignitiondg.com 30

Animal Magic Pets are the final household members benefitting from a major focus in home tech, with devices coming onstream promising health monitoring, companionship and entertainment. Chinese company iKuddle, for example, is currently updating its flagship Auto-Pack Self-Cleaning Litterbox with an AI-powered product ecosystem that includes a water fountain and auto-feeder to adjust your pet’s food or water intake, pre-determined by litter box analysis to help monitor its health. Samsung’s tennis-ballshaped Ballie, meanwhile, is a wheeled AI robot that can patrol the home, control smart devices and act as a fitness buddy to entertain your pets when you are away from home.

Think Blum. Think LDL. There’s a reason why we’re the No.1 Blum distributor in the UK.

MADE EASY FOR YOU.

Register to find out more. www.ldlonline.co.uk

DESIGNER MAGAZINE WORKPLACE DESIGN

The collaborate zone

32

DESIGNER MAGAZINE WORKPLACE DESIGN

ADAPT TO THRIVE The role of the office is facing all sorts of searching questions right now, so clever and creative designs are more important than ever in considering how the workplace needs to look and function in the years ahead

33

DESIGNER MAGAZINE WORKPLACE DESIGN

The collaborate zone

34

DESIGNER MAGAZINE WORKPLACE DESIGN

P

roperty and design consultants Ingleton Wood unveiled its new agile-working showcase office earlier this year, with a versatile and inviting space designed by its own team.

The radical overhaul of the location emerged after partners at the practice needed to find another London office but first undertook an audit of how the existing office was used. They discovered that because their multidisciplinary teams – including architects, interior designers, building surveyors and engineers – were often off-site with clients, full occupancy at any one time was never reached.

With proof that not everyone needed a daily desk, and with office rental at a premium, the firm decided an entirely new approach was needed. Partner Stuart Norgett said: “The partnership was keen to invest

in, and make use of, the efficiencies in productivity that can be achieved through truly agile and flexible working practices, economies in floor space and improvements in staff wellbeing.”

Architect and interior designer Nicole Flynn headed the team that turned its new Aldgate office into an agile-working environment making maximum use out of the space. She said: “Agile working is more than just providing a new workplace – it involves a culture change throughout the organisation and the buy-in of both management and staff is essential from the outset.

“Organisations that embrace both flexible and agile working provide staff with a great work/life balance that’s also essential in attracting new diverse talent, increasing staff morale, and improving productivity.

Companies like ours know that one size does not fit all.”

Biophilic elements include a bark, moss and cork feature wall

35

DESIGNER MAGAZINE WORKPLACE DESIGN

The space offers a wide variety of types of area to work in

Now ‘concentrate zones’ enable staff to use enclosed pods for phone calls, working and creative thinking in a quiet environment and ‘collaborate zones’ include a variety of workstations, high benches, meeting pods and a small meeting room, so teams of architects and interior designers can meet to work hand in hand with building surveyors, project managers, planners and engineers.

The team fused sustainable materials with quality and attention to detail that includes IT planning, colour schemes, lighting, layout space, fittings and beautiful furniture, supplied by Rainbow, which enhanced the environment.

Norgett added: “We are incredibly proud of what Nicole and the team around her have achieved.

We’ve been able to stay local, avoid overhead increases and improve the working lives of our staff.”

Concentrate area, including pods

Ingleton Wood / ingletonwood.co.uk 36

Details make the difference To experience the V-ZUG difference, get in touch with our Projects team: projects.uk@vzug.com | 0203 131 8080

DESIGNER MAGAZINE PUBLIC WASHROOMS

DESIGNING FOR

Photography: Satoshi Nagare / The Nippon Foundation

CONVENIENCE

A host of top designers turned their creative attention to bringing new visual life to one of society’s more purely functional buildings – the public toilet

A

project to transform public toilets in a district of the Japanese capital Tokyo will see 17 individually-designed facilities open to the public over the next year. Launched by The Nippon Foundation, The Tokyo Toilet project is intended to address what is seen as a real perception problem in Japan where despite having a higher standard of hygiene than in other parts of the world,

38

public toilets are viewed as dark, dirty and unsafe.

The new initiative will see several public toilets throughout Shibuya renovated, calling upon the creative vision of 16 leading designers – including Shigeru Ban, Marc Newson and Toyo Ito – and will make use of the latest design thinking to make them accessible for everyone regardless of gender, age, or disability.

As part of the scheme, in addition

to the construction, organisers have arranged for ongoing maintenance so that people will feel comfortable using these public toilets and to help ensure a positive experience for users. The buildings are being constructed by Daiwa House Industry, with advice on equipment and layout from Toto.

Seven of the toilets are already available for use by the general public, with the remainder scheduled for completion by Summer 2021.

DESIGNER MAGAZINE PUBLIC WASHROOMS

Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park and Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park Designed by Shigeru Ban

There are two concerns with public toilets, especially those located in parks. The first is whether it is clean inside, and the second is that no one is secretly waiting inside. For this innovative – if slightly disconcerting – design, architect Shigeru Ban made the outer walls with glass that becomes opaque when the lock is closed, so that a person can check inside before entering. At night, they light up the parks to create a lantern effect

39

DESIGNER MAGAZINE PUBLIC WASHROOMS

Ebisu East Park

Designed by Fumihiko Maki Architect Fumihiko Maki said: “The project site, Ebisu East Park, is a popular neighbourhood park that is used as a children’s playground and is filled with lush greenery. We wanted this facility to function not only as a public restroom but as a public space that serves as a park pavilion equipped with a rest area.

“Thinking about a variety of users, from children to people on their way to work, we wanted to create a safe and comfortable space that uses a decentralised layout to allow for good sight lines throughout the facility. The cheerful roof that integrates the different sections promotes ventilation and natural light, creating a bright and clean environment while giving the facility a unique appearance similar to playground equipment.”

40

DESIGNER MAGAZINE PUBLIC WASHROOMS

Ebisu Park

Designed by Masamichi Katayama In Japan, toilets originated with ‘kawaya’ – huts built over rivers dating back to the prehistoric Jomon period. Trying to envision the appearance and atmosphere of these primitive kawaya, Masamichi Katayama built an ‘ambiguous space’ that is simultaneously an object and a toilet by combining 15 concrete walls. The spaces between the walls lead users into three different areas designed for men, women, and all users. The design creates a unique relationship in which users are invited to interact with the facility as if they are playing with a curious piece of playground equipment

42

DESIGNER MAGAZINE PUBLIC WASHROOMS

Higashi Sanchome

Designed by Nao Tamura Of her bold structure, designer Nao Tamura said: “The design was inspired by Origata, a traditional Japanese method of decorative wrapping. A symbol of gift-giving, this motif embodies the spirit of hospitality towards Shibuya ward’s multinational visitors, and carries my vision to create a safe space that envelopes all users.”

43

DESIGNER MAGAZINE HOME OF 2030

THE SHAPE OF HOMES TO COME

LIVING FOR THE FUTURE

A competition to develop ideas on a fresh approach to future housing challenges sees innovative entries that challenge current thinking on planning, layout, and the materials we use in the home

Home of 2030 applicants had to submit an outline design for homes that are:

• Age-friendly and inclusive –

appealing to a variety of age groups and adaptable to how needs will change as people become older; • Have low environmental impact – applying technology and construction techniques to deliver net zero carbon emissions; • Promote healthy living – promoting better health and wellbeing, such as through access to green spaces and communal areas; • Deliverable and scalable – homes that can be rolled-out across the country.

Studio OPEN By simplifying and standardising a characteristic ‘kit of parts’ of both internal and external spaces, each site is intended to be adapted to the scale and needs of the community, generating connected, sustainable, age-friendly and inclusive neighbourhoods.

44

DESIGNER MAGAZINE

S

ix finalists have been announced in a competition to design environmentally friendly homes that support people in leading independent, fulfilling lives as our society ages.

The winner of the Home of 2030 competition will be chosen later this year and, together with other selected finalists, will be introduced to Homes England development partners to

HOME OF 2030

explore the possibility of developing bids for a series of homes on Homes England land. The six finalists have each received £40,000 of funding to help them develop detailed plans.

The contest has been funded by the UK government as part of cross-departmental initiative, and the announcement of the finalists came as ministers announced a ‘planning for the future’ overhaul of the planning system to encourage the delivery of more high-quality, sustainable homes.

Housing Minister Christopher Pincher said: “This competition demonstrates the best of British design being brought to bear on a key issue for today, and future generations: delivering homes that are good for the planet and that

promote healthy, independent living for older generations.

“The winner of this competition will set the standard for the homes of the future and all six finalists have already made an exciting contribution to the designs we will need in the UK and around the world.”

Alan Jones, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, added: “The UK urgently needs a broad mix of affordable, age-friendly and sustainable housing – and these shortlisted proposals provide exactly that. Through the clever configuration of private and public space, natural light and ventilation, intelligent use of materials and technologies – these cost-effective, low carbon homes show what’s possible when architects collaborate.

Igloo Regeneration with Useful Projects, Expedition Engineers and Mawson Kerr Architects +Home helps communities to build green, walkable, vibrant neighbourhoods themselves, bypassing traditional housebuilders.

Instead of standard house designs, it proposes community-led and selfbuild homes that people can design themselves. The homes are simple to build with affordable frames and components, and are climate friendly to build and run.

45

DESIGNER MAGAZINE HOME OF 2030

HLM Architects with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Green Build An ambition to develop a design standard that enables any modern methods of construction system to deliver the same high quality, sustainable design, with parts that are interchangeable.

46

DESIGNER MAGAZINE HOME OF 2030 Outpost Architects with Milk structures, EcoCocon, Barbara Jones, Gaia Group, Propagating Dan, and Atelier Replica Janus is a modular housing system inspired by traditional biomass materials and construction. Janus House uses these materials in modern ways to create a house that is zero waste, sequesters carbon, and enables a healthy lifestyle for its occupants.

47

DESIGNER MAGAZINE HOME OF 2030 The Positive Collective (changebuilding Perpendicular Architecture & humblebee) with ECOSystems Technologies, COCIS and Arup Positive+ House seeks to maximise our positive contribution to society and the environment, not just to minimise construction’s negative impacts. The scheme attempts to balance inclusivity, health and environmental benefits with economic value through the use of adaptable solid timber panels made off-site from home-grown timber, and the use of very low energy systems.

Openstudio Architects Homes are proposed to build a sense of identity and place from a simple kit of parts. Flexible and adaptable houses, apartments, external terraces and gardens can be combined at different scales and densities to develop multi-generational communities which provide a sustainable environment in which people can thrive.

48

TAILOR MADE SOLUTIONS

Solid wood will make an honest difference to any interior solution At SPEKVA we are dedicated to creating kitchen worktops and furniture of the ver y finest quality from hand-selected wood. The finished product couldn't be anymore premium.

We cater for your every wish and have something to offer for every taste and

Photographed by Sam Lock, designed by Adaptations – Surrey

purpose.

Contact Sales Manager Mark Williams on 07894698682 and visit us online.

SPEK VA .COM

DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

Bold Simplicity Creating strong, characterful aesthetics while maintaining subtlety and warmth is no easy feat, but this home utilises the right levels of material, light and space to do just that

50

DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

Photography: Jaro van Meerten / The Art of Living

51

DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

W

hen it comes to planning the perfect rural retreat designed for modern family living, there is always a tough balance to strike in achieving a blend of warmth, comfort, practicality, function and fun. For the owners of this rural Netherlands property, the open-plan kitchen area manages to deliver all of this.

The new build villa was designed

by Freek Lauwers, who placed it a few metres to the back of the property to give a feeling of more green space, successfully creating an exclusive rural setting with a pared-back, simple feel. On arrival, visitors are greeted by a modest front to the property yet once inside, the space opens out with plenty of light and space. The interior design

by Stuurman Ontwerpt is a playful tribute to the old farmhouse. A nod to its character is included thanks to exposed trusses and brickwork, vaulted ceiling, a cast floor by Enssieg Group and a stylish

door fitting by Formani within the downstairs open living area as well as a low thatched roof at the front of the end facade.

The villa incorporates a vast kitchen space – created by interior designer Stuurman Ontwerpt – with a large island at its centre, topped with HI-MACS in Alpine White.

The rest of the kitchen is made up of floor-to-ceiling veneered oak cabinets for maximum storage and with a stained lacquer finish that enhances their durability while adding to the luxury look.

A discreet coffee centre is furnished with premium coffee-making kit while a flush-fit built-in oven and wine cooler match the sleek downdraft hob, undermounted sink and Quooker boiling water tap set within the worktop. An overhang crafted from oak from the owners’ own garden provides an ideal spot for sitting down with family and friends over coffee or a glass of wine before dinner.

As well as visualising the stunning open-plan kitchen and creating the contemporary-style cabinets, fabricators Studio Hout also realised the customisation of the villa’s bathroom furniture too. A sanctuary for relaxing and unwinding at the end of a long day, the space may be long and narrow but it is cleverly planned with sculptural freestanding bath, walk-in shower, floating vanity unit with vessel basins and a chunky countertop, also made from HI-MACS in Alpine White to mirror the kitchen worksurface. The monochrome scheme also features matt black brassware and black framed shower screen, heated towel rail and cabinet, echoing the simple kitchen colour palette.

Lighting was also carefully considered throughout with Vertigo ceiling lamps by Petite Friture and a Brokis ceiling lamp from Billekens Light & Advice. Bold, and characterful, and yet calming, the villa exudes charm from every corner.

Stuurman Ontwerpt Eindhoven / stuurmanontwerpt.nl HI-MACS / himacs.eu 52

Dry with HEPA purified air.

Not dirty air.

Fast, hygienic hand dryers.

Even in the cleanest looking washroom, the air can contain microscopic particles, including bacteria and viruses.

That’s why all Dyson Airblade™ hand dryers feature HEPA filters.

Proven to capture 99.95% of particles, including bacteria and viruses, from the washroom air that pass through the filter.

To dry carefully washed hands.

1

0800 345 7788 business@dyson.co.uk www.dyson.co.uk/commercial 1. HEPA filter tested to EN1822-5, by an independent testing laboratory, under prescribed test conditions.

DESIGNER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW – H. MILLER BROS

Family Tree

Hugh and Howard Miller bring their distinct yet complementary skills together for projects from the H. Miller Bros studio, showcasing some of what can be achieved through the beauty of wood and other natural materials

54

DESIGNER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW – H. MILLER BROS

DESIGNER: How would you describe what you each individually bring to the studio, and how your skills complement each other?

Hugh: We’ve been designing and making together all our lives, and our design process is centred on bringing out the unique aspects that every client and project has, and using them as a catalyst to make that project special. We both love designing but we design at different scales. Howard has a macro perspective, and ensures the design works as a whole cohesive space, whilst I am a details person, adding richness and detail to the design.

It was Eliel Saarinen who said: “Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a

55

WALDRON TABLE, DESIGN SEAN DARE. TOR STACKING CHAIR, DESIGN DAVID IRWIN.

DARESTUDIO.COM

DESIGNER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW – H. MILLER BROS

room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.” I think this is why our designs feel whole and complete; whatever one of us has designed, the other adds the next layer – everything is intentionally interrelated so that the tiny pull handle on a cabinet speaks in tune with the room in which it sits, and the house it is in, to a landscape that surrounds it.

DESIGNER: Your designs do not easily fit any of the usual stylistic labels – what influences and inspiration do you think have helped to shape your work?

Howard: We have quite an eclectic taste. Hugh is a Japanophile, and loves the subtlety and elegance of Japanese design. This is mixed with British Arts & Crafts detailing, which is the foundation of the studio furniture tradition from which Hugh comes. He especially likes Greene and Greene – the American brothers who worked at the turn of the 20th century; in fact, this was partly what led him to his love of Japanese design because many of the Arts and Crafts protagonists were inspired by Japan, though few had actually been.

My favourites are architects and designers – experimenters like Carlo Scarpa, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ted Cullinan, Enrique Mirrales, and Kengo Kouma. I’m interested in translating ideas that emerge in one disciple, and seeing how they work in another – traditional landscaping materials used as internal finishes, or styles and material from one culture translated into another. Our common threads are: promoting learned physical skill over computer aided; being design-led (we design what we think is right and then figure out how to make it rather than the other way round); we both love experimenting.

We’re inquisitive and a project where we don’t add a new idea feels a bit like a missed opportunity to us.

DESIGNER: Which materials do you most enjoy working with and how do you go about the specification process for your projects? And where does technology fit in to this mix?

Hugh: Our background is in timber, but we are adventurous and love mixing timber with other materials.

Brass is a material we are using a lot, it’s quite a soft metal – you can sand it and shape it quite easily and we love things that lend themselves to being manipulated by hand.

We’ve got some experimentation with bamboo going on, as this was something that emerged from my research in Japan. Bamboo is technically a grass (not timber).

It’s a super-sustainable material, very strong and fast growing. In the UK, it feels like it’s generally used for worktops or engineered flooring and feels a bit like plastic, but we plan to grow our own bamboo stands and experiment with it long term, as the possibilities seem endless.

Computer-driven machinery (CNC and the like) has revolutionised joinery shops all over the world. Although we

are really interested in technology, we see it as a way to make things very accurately, rather than as a way to make things more quickly and cheaply. It makes complicated and intricate things more feasible than they would otherwise be.

DESIGNER: Your creative output transcends kitchen design through a range of varied projects internationally as well as at home.

Please tell us about ‘the lab’ and how some of its schemes have come about.

Howard: The Lab is a where we scratch our itch for experimentation and play in design and making.

We’ve developed a bit of a reputation for being up for the weird and wonderful, and so we get asked to do some real curveballs. And we like to say yes! Constellations Bar came about because a group of friends, with a micro-brewery based around the corner from our workshop, asked us to help build a canopy in an industrial courtyard space. Ice Hotel came about when a client came back from holiday there and said “guys, you have to get involved in this”.

And the National Trust Red House

57

DESIGNER MAGAZINE INTERVIEW – H. MILLER BROS

THE H. MILLER BROS STORY SO FAR… A master woodworker, furniture maker, and details person, HUGH MILLER’s passion for wood as a material started when he was young. He made his first piece of furniture at 15 and, after earning a Masters in architecture at the University of Sheffield, founded his workshop at the age of 24. Hugh is a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellow, traveling across Japan for his research study on Japanese wood craftsmanship. His book on the subject has sold over 1,000 physical copies and he has lectured widely on the subjects of Japanese

design, furniture and its relationship to architecture, making and the design process.

HOWARD MILLER is a designer through-andthrough and has been a chartered architect for over 15 years.

After graduating from Glasgow School of Art and the Bartlett School of Architecture, he practiced in London, New York and Sydney. With an approach to design that combines manmade and natural elements, Howard aims to create tactile, beautiful, elegant spaces. His

project was the result of a design competition where we had the idea to make a piece of furniture and then set it on fire.

Because we take on projects in the capacity of both design and making, we can build testing and experimentation into our design process, and this allows us to offer really unusual, innovative ideas that probably wouldn’t get off the drawing board elsewhere.

DESIGNER: How has 2020 shifted the balance in terms of what clients are likely to be looking for and prioritising in the home over the coming years, and how can designers best meet these needs?

Hugh: I think that the pandemic has forced people to reassess what really matters in life; prioritising family and friends, growing, eating and cooking together, exercising and being in nature more, working from home, quality rather than quantity.

Meanwhile, some things haven’t changed at all – our homes are

58

work spans disciplines and scales, from private residences, to schools and institutional buildings, to landscapes and gardens.

His work in architecture has been published widely, and he was lead architect on a number of awardwinning projects including the Pegasus Academy in Croydon.

Hugh Miller said: “We have shared a studio and workshop space for seven years and have always worked very closely together; our first major collaboration was the award-winning

some of the smallest in Europe, the young have even less access to a garden or outdoor space than the generations before them. Designers have always preached quality over quantity; so perhaps with clients coming round to this way of thinking the stars are aligning.

In terms of kitchen design, this has manifested in some really interesting ways. Clients are keen to bring the garden indoors, with things like herb planters set into worktops. Kitchen spaces are now multi-use spaces, where work and cooking and socialising all happen in the same place, and so we’re increasingly being asked to work these varying uses into a single design. Our favourite way of doing this is by making the kitchen island into a larger, more kitchen-table like structure where people can chat, work or chop interchangeably. There’s also been a noticeable move towards the more natural materials palette.

This suits us perfectly, as we’re wood specialists, and it seems clients want more and more to have these organic aesthetics on show in their homes.

Constellations Bar, a timber pavilion we designed and made entirely in-house in 12 weeks, which won a Wood Award in 2015. H. Miller Bros emerged from this and numerous other collaborations over the years – it became clear our skills in architecture and furniture dovetailed really well, plus the scale of projects we were taking on individually were becoming too big for one person to manage alone. Our company was formed 12 months ago, and it’s been full-on ever since.”

H. Miller Bros / hmillerbros.co.uk

London Showroom

25 Bastwick Street

Clerkenwell, EC1V 3PS

www.sixteen3.co.uk

DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

The character and materiality of existing brickwork was complimented with new bespoke joinery and metalwork, embracing the strong craft tradition within the local area. Oak engineered wood flooring from Natural Wood Floor Co was chosen to complement the raw materials, creating a minimal aesthetic in a super-light scheme.

New openings and external terraces were introduced at the rear to add further variety and interest to the home.

Next Level Spatial creativity is often limited to the horizontal perspective, but when the internal space can be reconfigured to take the eye between the different floors of a home, it means the design potential is really looking up

60

DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

The project involved a full refurbishment of a fourstorey terraced property in the heart of a popular conservation area in East London, by Threefold Architects..

An important part of the main brief was to respect the existing architectural grain of the building while completely modernising the interior. The proportions of a typical terraced façade were retained – at 2,400 sq ft of space overall – while creating a radical arrangement of internal spaces linked by double and triple height voids.

One of the most extraordinary features of the refurbished property occurs internally, where variety and excitement is achieved between floors by cutting back each floor plate to create dramatic views and glimpses of the different living spaces. Engineered wood flooring was chosen, with the natural beauty of the material visible from many angles.

Photography: Charles Hosea (charleshosea.co.uk)

61

www.topform.ie www.topshapeworktops.co.uk

To order your next TopShape worktop Call 01257 478540 or email sales@deralam.co.uk

Design it, Live it, Love it

DESIGNER MAGAZINE RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

Space was optimised by creating a single linear staircase occupying a triple height void or ‘fissure’ along the edge of the building, with oak boards fitted on each of the staircases. The oak parquet chosen for several rooms including the kitchen, living area and study, fills each of the spaces with a sense of character. This juxtaposition of patterns creates visual interest and gives a modern interpretation to parquet, which is something of a design classic in flooring terms.

The oak engineered boards with a low knot content result in a contemporary appearance throughout, in keeping with the overall design brief. The flooring, along with the new bespoke joinery and metalwork, celebrate the character and materiality of existing brickwork, helping to transform this once crowded and claustrophobic site into a spacious, light and multi-layered home.

Threefold Architects / threefoldarchitects.com The Natural Wood Floor Co / naturalwoodfloor.co.uk 63

DESIGNER PRODUCTS

1

3

2

4

1

2

3

4

Kaldewei

Duravit - Luv

Loft Furniture

Ballerina-Küchen

Kaldewei, superior steel enamel bathroom solutions manufacturer, has a portfolio of over 600 shower surfaces, washbasins and baths.

All meticulously crafted from 100% recyclable steel enamel, ensuring long lasting quality, timeless design and durability with a 30-year guarantee.

Luv’s authentic design continues with larger mirrors and new features. The heated mirror switching function for coloured light can be controlled via a contactless operating panel, enabling continuous adjustment of the light colour for the upper illuminated area and ambient light.

01480 498 053 www.kaldewei.co.uk

www.duravit.co.uk

Loft Furniture exclusively manufacture the Robin Day designed Club sofa and Leo Armchair (featured). They have developed a customiser tool which enables you to personalise the finish of these products, as well as their Chesterfield sofa, with over 150 standard options to choose from and the results available to view immediately.

A trendsetter among German kitchen manufacturers, Ballerina- Küchen sets market trends, offers numerous innovations and exclusive features which are marketed through classical sales channels - kitchen retailers - worldwide.

With more than 800 models, the product range offers a large variety of design options meeting all wishes, no matter how specific.

www.loft.co/customiser

ballerina-kitchens.eu

To a d ve r t i s e p l e a s e c a l l 0 2 0 3 5 3 8 0 2 6 8

Time for some RefleXion…

The latest collection of shower enclosures, wetrooms and trays from PJH’s RefleXion brand has been enhanced with a comprehensive new package of aftercare, customer service and product specification updates, to increase further the brand’s appeal.

As well as the formation of 3 enclosure sub-brands, RefleXion IconiX, FleX & ClassiX, to communicate the quality and luxury, a new RefleXion Aftercare Package embraces all elements of customer support, spare parts and aftercare for complete peace-of-mind.

Aspirational new photography adorns PJH’s latest bathroom brochure, which beautifully showcases the full RefleXion range.

Products range from industrial-inspired black framed 8mm glass wetrooms and a botanical-themed ‘Black Leaf’ screen - to spaceefficient quadrant enclosures and versatile bi-fold doors. Trays include stylish slate grey designs and ultra-slim, anti-slip models.

For the trade, the new RefleXion Spares section can be found on PJH’s Partners Portal™, and for the consumer, a new Warranty Registration Section on www.reflexionenclosures.uk makes it even easier to apply for the brand’s Lifetime Guarantee.

RefleXion by PJH: Tel: 0800 8 77 88 99 www.partners.pjh.uk www.reflexionenclosures.uk

DESIGNER MAGAZINE EXIT

EXIT

The Intreccio sink from Italian bathroom brand Antonio Lupi is an ultra-light marble sink weighing only 55kg. Designed by Paolo Ulian, the intricate form is made using cuts that are optimised to create concentric

One last thing from this month’s magazine‌

rings, giving the sink its threedimensional volume.

The manufacturing process involves numerical control processing technology, making it possible to create very thin and light layers

Antonio Lupi / antoniolupi.it 66

that are superimposed and staggered. These proceed upwards to create a play of light or shade and full or empty obtained solely by the variation of light on the concave or convex shapes.

GOODBYE SCALES. HELLO NIKOLATESLA LIBRA.

WEIGH

COOK

EXTRACT

NIKOLATESLA LIBRA. THE HOB WITH INTEGRATED EXTRACTION AND WEIGHING SCALES. NikolaTesla Libra is the innovative hob with integrated extraction able to weigh your ingredients directly in the pot, at any temperature level. A visionary product that combines elegance, power, silence and precision for a three times revolutionary cooking experience.

NikolaTesla Libra Design Fabrizio Crisà elica.com

INTRODUCING - CLASSIC SHAKER

MIDSOMER HANDLE-LESS Midsomer, a classic painted shaker collection is now available handle-less blurring the lines between modern sophistication and traditional elegance.

This traditional design has a solid oak frame with veneered centre panels, in a choice of subtle shades or complementary bold paint finishes perfect for fusing together to create something totally unique.

See more new innovations for 2020...

C R O W N - I MP E R I AL.C O .U K /N EW

KITCHEN BEDR O O M LIV I NG