Heal's Discovers

One of my favourite previews on the design calendar is the Heal’s Autumn Collection presented in its London flagship on Tottenham Court Road. As one of the leading furniture emporiums in the country for more than two centuries, the brand continues to provide high quality, accessible design for the contemporary home. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Heal’s Discovers programme continues to work with emerging talent, promoting innovative design from the drawing table to the shop floor.

Heal's Discovers 2014: Ester Comunello, Tom Parfitt, Josh South and Sam Lloyd

Ahead of its official launch at the London Design Festival in September, I previewed this year’s Heal’s Discovers designers who are all alumni from traditional furniture making and product design universities from across the country. Kirsty Whyte, Heal’s Product & Design Manager, explained to me the importance of design ethos that had been considered in choosing both the university and its subsequent graduate for the programme. Craftsmanship and material are at the core of the designers’ varied practices and this is reflected in the British-made values that Heal’s maintains for its in-house collections. Kirsty and her team mentored each designer through the stages of concept to viable product and worked closely with specialist British manufacturers for their production.

Ester Comunello introduces her Turn Collection – comprising of a coffee table, floor lamp and mirror – as a response to society’s detached relationship with product design. The Brazilian designer and graduate from Bucks New University based her concept around dexterity and craft when designing the range, which requires easy hands-on assembly without the nuts and bolts of flat pack counterparts. 

Turn Collection by Ester Comunello

The screw mechanism and ridges allow owners to engage directly with the piece using their hands; defining its shape and form, even offering the ability to clamp onto existing pieces of furniture or architecture. The result is a highly dynamic range that is made in Norwich using beech wood.

details: Turn coffee table (above) and Turn mirror (below)

Modernist architecture was the principal inspiration behind Tom Parfitt’s Maya side table. The Rycotewood-graduate hails from a wealth of industry experience at British furniture brand Benchmark before developing new skills and methods while studying for his degree. The side table - manufactured in Cheltenham - boasts the impressive credential of being made from over 90% recycled material. Equally impressive is its finish and physicality – smooth polished concrete and minimal lines. The solid form features triangular voids that make for just enough decorative intrigue as well as functional storage.

Maya side table by Tom Parfitt

Aluminium and oak come together for the Sand Cast range by Kingston University-graduate Sam Lloyd. A bar stool and low stool are presented in an angular style with an aluminium seat - manufactured after its namesake - upon three legs available in natural or fumed oak. A variety of manufacturing techniques are involved in its production that include aluminium casting from South East London to the hand-turned timber from Whitstable.

Sand Cast stools by Sam Lloyd

Design duo Luscombe and South met at Northumbria University where they established their collaborative studio. Philip Luscombe and Josh South introduce their first fully realised project together in the multi-functional Rickard Stool. After a series of prototypes – a making process favoured by the designers rather than sketching - the stool evolved to be suitable for sitting and standing as well as for display as a side-table. The natural and fumed oak components of the two-tiered stool are highlighted with contrasting dowels along its curved surface.

Rickard Stool by Philip Luscombe and Josh South

Alongside the debut designs of the emerging designers, the 2014 Autumn Collection looks to six new ranges by established designers and studios that include ‘Future Craft’ and ‘Modern British’ takes on minimal Nordic and Japanese aesthetics through to reinterpreted silhouettes of classic lines respectively. 

Perfectly (Imperfect) Stool by Galvin Brothers

The Perfectly (Imperfect) Stool by the Galvin Brothers with its misshaped turned leg in white oiled English ash and William Warren’s asymmetrical Deconstructed Windsor collection in dark wood were notable highlights that embraced design details underneath the surface top, pleasing the eye from head to toe.

Deconstructed Windsor Collection by William Warren

The Heal’s Discovers 2014 range from all five designers will launch on 13th September 2014 at the London Design Festival and at 100% Design between 17th and 20th September 2014. 
For more information about the range and collections featured in this post visit heals.co.uk or view in-store at 196 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7LQ and nationwide from next month.

Follow @JMVELARDI on Twitter for more Art, Design and Lifestyle  

Images courtesy of Heal's 

London Design Festival

There was a different energy about this year’s London Design Festival that spanned across all quarters of the capital. From the large-scale public installation Endless Stair on the Southbank to the celebrated talks and satellite fairs that were held in some of the city’s landmark locations from East to West, the annual event had a presence like never before, sharing the limelight with fashionistas during London Fashion Week. 

Last Wednesday I attended Heal’s equally fashionable party at its flagship on Tottenham Court Road to officially celebrate the store’s redesign in the company of both established and emerging designers that make up the new direction for the brand’s Autumn collection. Having previewed the collection last month (Heal’s Discovers, August 2013) it was a pleasure to see the designers who had been selected for the Discovers programme and competition again as well as meet with the international studios who were involved with grand installations for the store’s dynamic transformation.

Fold by Alexander Mueller

Congratulations to Alexander Mueller who won the Discovers Cass Furniture Competition with his limited edition coffee table in walnut, individually crafted by the designer. Fold will be available at Heal’s in the coming weeks and will no doubt be a hit with customers looking for contemporary elegance.

Heal’s Discovers is a brilliant platform for emerging talent and Alexander with his fellow finalists  - Mika Ogarca, Douglas Montgomery and Michael Randall - are all future design stars to follow.

The remodelled Lighting Department on the ground floor is a wonderfully curated space of design classics and new contemporary interpretations. The Utrem Lux series by West London-based studio DeGrossDesign is one such innovator bridging the sustainable with sophisticated style - it was a pleasure to catch up with Sabrina Gross and congratulate her on the amount of press that the studio’s products have deservedly received since the press preview in August.

DeGross Design & Innovation

The Heal’s experience at its flagship is that of focus and detail – the collections across all departments are finely curated to offer a host of national and international brands and manufacturers, affirming its status as a destination emporium in the heart of the capital. No more so is this celebrated than with a specially commissioned custom chandelier that cascades down the Cecil Brewer staircase located appropriately to the rear of the store in the Lighting Department.

Bocci

Designed by all in-house studio Bocci the commission is a triumph in organic aesthetics and innovative minimalism. The magnificent sixty-five arm chandelier originates from Vancouver and its elements in all their grandeur transfer effortlessly to the versatile collection that is available at Heal’s. Standard or bespoke lighting options are available and range from single glass pendants to larger compositions made to order in an endless array of hues and installation construction to taste. The same boundless and electric language of Bocci is reflected in what is a new chapter for the Heal’s brand – an energy that design enthusiasts will look forward in seasons to come.

Visit Heal's at: 

196 Tottenham Court Road

London

W1T 7LQ

Images courtesy of Heal's

Heal's Discovers

For over two hundred years Heal’s has offered homegrown craftsmanship on the British high street and has championed the best of young design talent in the country. Last month I was invited to the furniture emporium’s London flagship on Tottenham Court Road to preview their 2013 Autumn Collection with a host of exciting collaborations and emerging talent on display in the press showroom.

‘Old icons meet future classics’ is the order of the season for the collection, which sees the reissue of iconic pieces by Ernest Race to the debuts works from young designers Ian Archer, Sebastian Cox and Matthew Elton, who feature under the annual Heal’s Discovers programme. Working around the themes of sustainability and contemporary craftsmanship, each designer presents an individual collection with an eye for heritage and quality that is certain to attract admirers across all tastes. Lee Broom, a Discovers alumnus himself from 2010, now features as a fully-fledged collaborator. After growing national and international success as a product designer, Broom has been commissioned to create a suite of upholstered furniture that will contribute to the Heal’s Designer Collaboration range.

Such an aspiring journey will undoubtedly be on the minds of the four third-year students at London's Art, Architecture and Design Faculty, The Cass who are all in reaching distance of the winner’s prize that is the next up-and-coming design star who will have their product manufactured by Heal’s and showcased this year at the London Design Festival.

Heal’s Head of Furniture, Tim Ely selected four finalists from twenty-two applicants in the competition and it was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to meet the emerging quartert that were Alexander Mueller, Mika Ogarca, Douglas Montgomery and Michael Randall, to discuss both their practices and their Discovers experience to date.

Heal's Discovers 2013: Alexander Mueller, Mika Ogarca, Douglas Montgomery and Michael Randall

Riding high on recent accolades from John Lewis’s very own Award for Design Excellence and Innovation, Mika described her personal experience to be far from the competitive atmosphere that most contests take, but as an invaluable opportunity to participate with her fellow Cass-alumni and be recognised by a British institution of interior design. Her laser-cut Twist lampshade in birch plywood is a wonderfully organic and practical product that places the customer at the centre of its construction by way of its flat-pack design.

Twist by Mika Ogarca

Alexander and Douglas present their unique takes on a coffee table, sourcing Japanese origami and bygone manufacturing methods as inspiration, respectively. Alexander’s limited edition Fold coffee table in walnut, exudes craftsmanship in the details that cannot be seen – the fit of the tongue and groove joints seamlessly blend to create a stunning product in form and utility. 

Fold by Alexander Mueller

The tactile result of Douglas’s Cog coffee table is taken from the cross-section of a classical column, balanced on three legs that highlight recent shifts in taste, away from the decorative and fussy styles such as barley twisting and fluting. Its reeded pins will positively command the affectionate caress of craft connoisseurs over many a brew. 

Cog by Douglas Montgomery

Last, but by no means least, Michael’s quest to identify a product that was overlooked in the home lead him to the humble coat stand. After describing The Cass’s liberal approach to design, au fait with contemporary art school teaching, as well as the group’s involvement at the Salone del Mobile in Milan earlier this year, his submission to the competition is the most conceptual in nature, sighting Native American totem poles as inspiration for his Totem coat stand. Moveable pegs may be slotted into a variety of holes available along the stand’s body in English ash. With a family as his customer in mind, Michael sees users adapting the coat stand to tell their own personal tales – a charming sentiment as the pegs follow a child’s growth. 

Totem by Michael Randall

The finalists' involvement with the Heal's Discovers collection will be determined by the public – hear the designers speak about their concepts in their own words in the video below. Votes may be cast for your favourite product online and the winner will be announced in-store at Heal’s Tottenham Court Road next month on 18th September in time for the London Design Festival.

The beautiful works of West London-based studio, DeGross Design & Innovation caught my eye and I very much enjoyed speaking with co-founder Sabrina Gross, who introduced me to the studio’s Utrem Lux series of upcycled lamps made from discarded glass bottles in warm hues of brown and mustard. 

Utrem Lux table lamp by DeGross Design & Innovation

The bottles’ body, with its delightful handle detail, are elegantly constructed into adjustable wall, ceiling and base fixtures, which are produced by hand and finished off with on-trend, colourful power cords. The Utrem Lux series will be available at Heal’s newly remodelled Lighting Department at Tottenham Court Road.

Also being showcased this Autumn are charitable social enterprise Out of the Dark. Followers of my blog will remember my visit to their High Wycombe showroom and studio earlier this year (Interior Confidence, March 2013) - it was brilliant to see founders Jay and Jade again, in front of their seductive wall of furniture all restored and revamped by their young apprentices and sitting proudly under the roof of the institution that is Heal's. 

Working with names that would have been sold at the store during the Fifties and Sixties, pieces by G-Plan, Ercol and Parker Knoll will be given the Out of the Dark touch of bold, colour blocking and will be showcased in the flagship’s street-level window display along Tottenham Court Road.

Out of the Dark's furniture will be on sale from 5th August to 22nd September and the team will run a series of weekend workshops for upcycle enthusiasts as well as a children's toy-painting session. They will join the Discovers collection to form part of Heal’s central showcase for the London Design Festival between 14th and 22nd September 2013.

For more information about the Heal’s Discovers range and associated events this Autumn visit heals.co.uk - click here for details about this year’s London Design Festival.

Best of luck to all four finalists competing to win the Heal’s Discovers competition - visit the voting page here to cast your vote - and follow @JMVELARDI for the latest news, updates and winner to be announced next month.  

Visit Heal's at: 

196 Tottenham Court Road

London

W1T 7LQ

Discovers product images courtesy of Heal's

Costume National

The annual Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace had an extra special plug before its official opening today - albeit indirectly - when Her Majesty The Queen disclosed to well wishers in Cumbria that she wished The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s imminent baby would arrive sooner rather than later as she was ‘going on holidays’. Prince George knew not to upset granny and arrived just in time to see her off before taking residence at Balmoral Castle in Scotland until the Autumn. When The Queen is away, the Royal Collection Trust opens the gates of the palace for visitors to explore inside one of London’s most famous landmarks and discover the wealth of fine art and objets d’art that make up this priceless, national collection. In what had been an extraordinary week for the House of Windsor in securing the line of succession for this century on the birth of His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge (Special Delivery: It's A Prince, July 2013), it was a pleasure to be invited to the scene of global interest on an unprecedented scale only a few days before, to attend the Press View of the palace’s State Apartments and exhibit before its public opening.

In 1953 London set the stage of pomp and pageantry that the world is so accustom with today. The Queen’s Coronation was the first major international event broadcast by the BBC on television and captured the atmosphere and regalia of a State occasion that remained essentially unchanged in British history for a thousand years. It made for potent viewing and set precedence for ceremonial documentation that too has changed very little with the planning of such events in the twenty-first century. The Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of this historic event with the dedicated exhibition, The Queen’s Coronation 1953 that reunites art, fashion, jewellery and objects from the Coronation Day on 2nd June to recreate both the dazzling drama as well as the important sense of duty that had been bestowed on a young Princess Elizabeth.

Caroline de Guitat - Royal Collection Curator in The Ballroom

While many will have seen footage from the day countless times before, this year’s exhibit successfully complements the State Apartments as more than just rooms labelled for ‘official occasions’. Walking through the gilded interiors remastered by the architect John Nash under George IV, that very same footage comes to life as one stands in The Throne Room watching private scenes of a rather disorganised royal family trying to arrange themselves into frame for the photographer Cecil Beaton. One can only imagine the roar of cheers from the crowds that swamped the Mall, trapped in the palace's quadrangle that would have resonated from room to room as The Queen and her family prepared to celebrate over a State Banquet after returning from Westminster Abbey where the investiture took place. 

Visitors are welcomed into the exhibition space along the tour of the State Apartments by a marvellous contemporary visual installation in the Ball Supper Room of news footage - with the audio of a bygone reporting style in received pronunciation - in the run up to the Coronation, which is brilliantly displayed to project within the flat recesses of the ornate panelling and cornicing that decorate the walls of the room. A sculptural collection of wooden television sets from the Fifties show news items of families gripped with national pride, as well as the sheer excitement of television itself, with sets purchased for the very first time especially for the event. 

The black and white images that had been captured by Marconi MK II film cameras is in stark contrast to the glittering technicolour display, curated by Caroline de Guitat, of the royal and ceremonial costume, jewellery and personal items that are presented in the adjoining Ballroom. Here are a few highlights from my visit:

Encrusted floral symbols of the four countries of the United Kingdom 

Fashion enthusiasts will admire the beautiful iconographic designs by British couturier Norman Hartnall, who worked national and commonwealth floral emblems into the embroidery design of The Queen's white satin Coronation Dress - a breathtaking installation of minute detail on display for the very first time since 1953. The Robe of Estate - six and half metres of purple silk-velvet, lined with ermine - made my Ede and Ravenscroft, incorporates imagery of peace and prosperity in the form of raised wheat ears and olive branches along the edge of the train and frames the Monarch's new cipher, executed in fine gold thread by the Royal School of Needlework over four laborious months. Hartnall's sketches and test hoops from the school neighbour the completed garment in all its glory as the centrepiece in the exhibition space.

The Coronation Dress and Robe by Norman Hartnell and Ede and Ravenscroft

Putting on a show is nothing without diamonds and the iconic Diamond Diadem from 1820 by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell is paired with a necklace and earrings by R & S Garrard & Co. - masterpieces that are quite simply brilliant in name and vision.

Diamond Diadem, 1820 - Rundell, Bridge and Rundell

The Throne Chair and Anointing Dress

The Earl Marshal's Robe 

Preliminary works in watercolour on paper by the Polish-born British expressionist painter Feliks Topolski capture the energy of the spectacle, as well as the distinction between the young Queen and her fellow, more mature subjects adorned in their weighty attire. The Duke of Edinburgh commissioned Topolski to record the occasion in a large-scale canvas composition, Coronation Frieze, completed in the artist’s fluid style in 1960 that is on display at the very beginning of the tour. Illustrators will appreciate the charming invitation personally created for a young Prince Charles to attend the Coronation by Joan Hassall that reminds visitors of both the importance of provenance and preservation – ephemera is not a word in the Royal Collection’s lexicon.

In the Abbey - Coronation 1953 - Feliks Topolski

Coronets of Peers and Peeresses

The dress of the Royal Family including silk ensembles for Princess Anne and Prince Charles

The Ballroom and subsequent State Dining Room - exquisitely dressed as it would have been for the Coronation Banquet on Sèvres and silver-gilt service - display a rich chapter in British history and presents the beginnings of a global understanding of the symbolism of Monarchy in the twentieth-century. Curatorially loaded yet also restrained, given the vastness of the Royal Collection’s archives, the exhibition effectively balances the familiar with the impeccable detail of the new and unseen: a fine-tuned formula that will no doubt continue to contribute to the allure of such a unique spectacle that is a Coronation, guaranteed to be performed by the House of Windsor for future generations to come.

The Queen’s Coronation 1953 is part of a visit to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace that includes access to the royal garden until 29th September 2013. The Royal Mews and The Queen’s Gallery also offer exhibits during this period – for further details about events, educational programmes and ticket information visit the Royal Collection's official website.

Spring Clean

I would like to to think there are parts of the Northern Hemisphere where nature's seasonal costume change still runs like clockwork. Someone please confirm such a place exists. It was only a few days ago, in the shadows of Easter, snowflakes were falling in the bitter wind and any new buds in their right mind were rescheduling their annual appearance. Those of us on the British Isles have earned our right to drop our carry on calm and wage weather war like prima donnas. Alternatively we can redirect our Vitamin D-deficient selves and embrace La Primavera with the accoutrements of any obsessive compulsive worth their salt. It may be April, and it may still be cold outside, but there is no reason why we can’t start to get excited about a thorough Spring clean for mind, body and home. Whether I’m number crunching audits or vacuum packing cashmere I cannot deny the satisfaction of cleaning, organising and boxing my chaotic life of Winter’s past.

On my last annual Advent trip to Munich, I discovered an emporium that has enjoyed cult-like status across Germany. Founded in 1988, Manufactum celebrates high quality household goods made with traditional manufacturing methods with a concern for design and the environment. A William Sonoma meets Labour and Wait retail paradise – for my American and British followers respectively - Manufactum’s functional aesthetic for all aspects of the home, garden and wardrobe presents an enticing installation. I confess the two hours that I spent browsing the racks and shelves that were stocked in surplus fashion was not enough time to acquaint myself with classic brands such as Armor Lux, Atoma, Ballistol, Burgol, Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth, Kaweco Sport, and Louis Poulsen to only name a few. As obsessive as Manufactum’s mission is for the handmade and a glorious affirmation that the good things in life still exist, I explored every corner and surface obsessively from brooms, buckets, enamelware and toiletries at one end, to the shiny array of technical pens, pencils, drawing instruments and paper supplies - fit for any event or fix for fellow stationery addicts – that was located on a mezzanine and attended by a leather apron-clad assistant who was knowledgeable of product, provenance and purpose.

This very knowledge is sourced from Manufactum’s weighty catalogue. A four hundred-page publication that fights for coffee table space as it too has gained a following from everyday purists. I was lucky enough to ask for the very last copy in store so I could continue my browsing as this handmade mecca was closing for the evening. All one thousand five hundred products that meet Manufactum’s standards are listed; each with their own description that goes into extensive factual detail, balancing on the line of irony when it comes to describing a toilet brush – of high quality no less. As traditional as the product it describes, the catalogue has even received a German language award from Verein Deutsche Sprache, a language preservation society, in honour of the informative, conventional copy that had me in awe, page after page.

Manufactum is resolutely anti-imitation and this is reflected in its pricing, which may be perceived as expensive. This is justified by the short lifespan of lesser quality products that Manufactum describes as falling into the ‘special offer’ fad. Discount offers may be scarce in this beautifully curated retail space, but special products are in abundance and are built to last - encouraging a ‘special relationship’ that consumers once had with everyday commodity. 

I restrained my purchases to a folding bone, wooden utensils and technical pens. I use restrained because Manufactum does the lifestyle sell like no other – once you enter the front door do not be surprised if you find yourself lusting over a €3200 copper bath. I like showers. At least I thought I did.

With nine locations in Germany that include their food market arm Brot & Butter and a growing online presence serving Austria, Switzerland as well as the UK, seek no further than Manufactum for functional, timeless wares - visit the online catalogue here.

Manufactum

Dienerstrasse 12

80331 Munich

Germany