We wanted to give an insight into how the beautifully made pieces you see in our stores and around the world, are designed and created. We want to get an understanding of how a design company comes about. What are the best ways to succeed? What are the key ingredients? Who's great to work with, and how the industry has changed over time. We're kicking off this insight with a question and answer session from Tim Cox, owner of Coakley and Cox who manufacture such classics as the Balzac Armchair and the Oscar Sofa, both designed by Matthew Hilton.
Tim Cox – Coakley and Cox Ltd. How did you get into the furniture industry?
I studied at Buckinghamshire College, High Wycombe after a recommendation from my wood work teacher. Their degree course in Furniture Production & Management was the only one offered in the UK. In 1995 upon graduation, I was fortunate to join SCP. Years later when the owners of the small workshop that made SCP upholstery retired, Sheridan and I took the opportunity to acquire the business. Building on the original workforce of 4 people, Coakley & Cox now have a team of 15.
How does the design process work – is it a collaborative process in that you help the designer refine their piece? Any examples?
Our customers come to us with designs they would like to produce, we then design the internal structure and material content and make full size mock-up’s of the piece which is then reviewed and refined for both comfort and design at the factory. The designers spend a day or more making adjustments to create a piece they are happy to sign off on and show a production sample usually at a fair or other launch.
You’ve been in business for over 30 years now, what have been the major innovations / changes in furniture making?
While technology has made improvements to production processes with regards to technical drawings models renders which has enabled us to produce more accurate samples quicker resulting in in some cases less development costs. The biggest change for us in recent years is to revert back to using traditional materials instead of petrochemical based foams, such as Jute Webbing, natural rubber, recycled wool etc. The Upholstery process remains largely unchanged and reliant of the skill of the craftspeople in our factory. We pride ourselves on making all our pieces traditionally by hand from frame assembly to upholstery.
What have been your favourite projects to work on?
There have been many with SCP, James Uk, Pinch, The Future Perfect, Linley but Last year working with SCP producing the 6 sofas for Sofa in sight and SCP’s 30th anniversary gave us a phenomenal challenge to develop the 6 pieces all to launch in September 2015 with exceptional designers Michael Anastassiades, Konstantin Grcic, Faudet-Harrison, Matthew Hilton, Lucy Kurrein and Terence Woodgate
http://www.scp.co.uk/collections/sofa-in-sight
Have you got any exciting projects or surprises lined up for the coming year that you can share with us?
We are just about to start working on a new modular sofa system for SCP being designed by Matthew Hilton which will be launched next year.
What advice would you give to any aspiring designers out there looking to get a piece made?
Gain practical experience through time in workshops. Try and learn the processes of production for the product/s you are designing so you know the possibilities and pitfalls of the production process.
[ INSPIRATION ]
Behind the design
Lyngard Ceramics, home to our exclusive collection of lighting and homewares. This week we took a trip to sunny Stoke to pay a visit to Lyngard Ceramics, home to our exclusive collection of lighting and homewares.
Handmade in the Potteries of Stoke-on-Trent, these fine bone china pendants and vases are exclusively designed, crafted and finished by Carmen Lyngard and her husband Iain. Hailing from a long-line of ceramicists and potters stretching back to 1829, many of Carmen's decorative glazes have been passed down through the generations with only a handful ceramicists in Britain able to replicate their unique finish.
Each piece is hand painted in a choice of marble effects, pure gold or platinum finishes, the reduction fired lustres taking up to five firings in the kiln to create their richness of colour.
Having experienced a much-needed evolution in style over the last couple of seasons, the latest and greatest portable lamps are now prioritising aesthetics as much as they are functionality. This ensures they can take pride of place while shining a light pretty much anywhere in the house.
Whether a corner of a room without a plug socket or simply a table outside in the garden, a portable lamp is one of the best investments you can make when it comes to designing your home. Here, we round-up the most illuminating styles to get inspired by.
Bellhop LED Portable Table Lamp
Compact and sleek, the Bellhop by Flos is perfect for indoor or outdoor use, featuring built-in LED technology instead of a traditional bulb with dimmer functionality for dialling up and down the brightness according to the ambience required.
Choose from a selection of colours to match your taste and space, from brick red to grey and Indian yellow, amongst others.
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Orion Portable LED Outdoor Table Lamp
Orion is our first own-brand LED portable table lamp. It features a weighted base and chargeable light with a shade that casts a soft, downward glow and dimmer functionality for setting just the right scene.
Better still, it’s pre-treated for outdoor use to ensure it can be used in the garden come rain or shine, while it provides up to eight hours of battery life from a single charge.
Why not pair with the portable floor lamp from the same range for a cohesive look?
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Big Battery LED Portable Table Lamp
Unmistakably Kartell in appearance, Big Battery is inspired by the eccentric shapes and decorative designs of the Art Deco movement, its sophisticated style paired with energy-saving properties.
The distinctive faceted shade creates a mesmerising light effect while the lamp itself is rechargeable with a battery life of up to eight hours. We rather like the plum colourway for adding a touch of decadence to any dinner party table.
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Melt LED Portable Table Lamp
Self-taught British designer Tom Dixon has done it again with Melt: a portable table lamp characterised by a spectacular hot-blown glass-inspired design that complements the rest of the collection.
Choose from finish in black, silver, gold or copper and recharge yours in just five hours for up to five hours of battery life.
Object d’art or functional light? You decide.
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Apollo Portable Table Lamp White
Handmade from a single piece of opal glass, Apollo from Hay features distinctive curves and a silhouette inspired by a classic table lamp, albeit with a rechargeable battery concealed within the shade.
When illuminated, the upper-part provides a warm, ambient glow in the home or garden, while the USP provides 10 hours of use from a single charge. Proof that simple really is beautiful.
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Browse and buy our collection of beautiful portable lights
For Vitra’s new range of packaging, Swedish based design firm BVD have perfectly captured the interior specialist’s simple yet striking collection.
Taking a minimal approach to the design process, the bold range of graphics clear away the clutter favouring instead bright block prints set against environmentally friendly recycled cardboard. From the Eames Hang It All coat rack to George Nelson’s Sunburst Clock, the colourful silhouettes that adorn each box ensure the iconic designs are instantly recognisable while their traditional print and typography gives a nostalgic nod to functional Modernist design.
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BVD: Vitra Packaging - www.bvd.se
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December wouldn’t be quite the same without a best of list, and what a year it’s been for design.
From the biggest Heal’s Modern Craft Market yet to the launch of our new Queens store on London’s Westbourne Grove, it’s safe to say we’ve had a busy schedule.
So before we jump headlong into a new year of interior trends, we’re taking some time to recap our top ten new designs for 2015. Which will be your favourite?
Ease Chair by Gareth Neal
Designed and made for the Great Heal’s Bodging Race in February this year, Gareth Neal’s winning Ease Chair has been through a whirlwind few months going from prototype to a fully-fledged piece of Heal’s furniture.
The combination of traditional craftsmanship and clean, modern lines has won the Ease numerous accolades from interior design bibles such as Homes & Gardens through to fashion and lifestyle guru Mr Porter.
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Pinner Four Poster Bed by Heal’s
For our new Pinner range, we looked to the traditional proportions of archive Heal’s furniture for inspiration. The classic look of a turned-wood four poster bed, once an iconic part of the Heal’s logo, stood out at once and seemed ripe for a refresh.
With its choice of Atlantic blue or flint white finish, the Pinner provides a bold counterpoint or seamless serenity that’s suited to clean, washed-out interiors – think exposed wooden floors, bay windows and traditional cornicing.
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My Ami by Alexander White
One of the winning pieces from our annual design competition Heal’s Discovers, Alexander White’s smart My Ami range fits perfectly within next year’s big trend for space-saving hacks.
The simple forms combine to create a series of functional folding furniture, including a round dining table, bistro table and matching stool that double up as an occasional table.
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Melt Pendant by Tom Dixon
Unveiled at the annual Milan design festival in March, the molten form of the Melt pendant transforms at the flick of a switch - a mirror finish when not in use that turns translucent once light is emitted from its interior.
Typical of Tom Dixon lighting design, both the Melt and Melt Mini pendants are finished in a choice of opulent brass chrome, copper or gold.
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Span Dining Table by Jonathan Lane-Smith
The second of our Heal’s Discovers winners to make it on the list, Jonathan Lane-Smith’s Span table quickly established itself as a focal point of our dining room collection.
Inspired by a double pedestal table from the Regency period, the Span, as seen here with matching Bench, translates slender 18th century form by pairing with a smoked glass top.
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Edie Rug by Heal’s
Replicating the decorative motifs of art deco pattern through a modern palette of pastels, Edie was all over our Autumn Winter 2015 design shows.
The contrast of soft fibres and sharp, graphic lines looks set to continue as a key trend for next year with the Edie’s choice of pastel tones diffusing its minimal, modern look.
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Fawn Dining Chair by Gazzda
When we first laid eyes on the Fawn range of furniture, with its sculpted oak silhouettes and smooth craftsmanship, we knew it would look right at home within Heal’s collections.
Winner of a Red Dot Design award 2015, the Fawn Chair is the impetus for the entire range featuring a modern angled base inspired by the profile of a baby deer plus supportive fabric webbing on the seat.
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Original 1227 Centre Point Edition by Anglepoise
This year saw two of Britain’s biggest design exports, lighting institution Anglepoise and print makers Eley Kishimoto, join forces to celebrate one of London’s most iconic landmarks.
Taking the silhouette of the Original 1227 desk lamp, the duo have added three monochromatic designs inspired by the Centre Point façade to create a graphically styled icon for your home.
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Mask Rhombus Mirror by Petite Friture
We love the way the geometrically styled Mask range reimagine conventional the wall mounted mirror into a contemporary work of art.
Each piece of angular glass is finished in a polished metallic lustre with its pattern of overlaying lines screen printed to create its statement look.
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Banbury Sofa by Heal’s
While slender shapes are always high on the design agenda, nothing beats sinking into a comfortably cushioned sofa.
Designed to add elegance to the family home, our new Banbury has a deep seat, tailored profile and turned solid oak feet – try our range of velvet fabrics for a glamorous look.
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For the second in our catch-ups with this year’s Heal’s Discovers winners, we speak to furniture designer and craftsman Alexander White to discuss the process behind his functional My Ami range of folding furniture.
How would you describe your style of design?
This is a question I find hard to answer. I guess my designs are materialisations of an idea, explorations in form and function. As my ideas are pragmatically developed with a heartfelt approach, the craft and my understanding of it are essential parts of the design process.
What was the catalyst for your career in design?
What motivated me was the holistic and multidisciplinary aspect of the job. A designer is an artist, an engineer, a researcher, a maker, a draftsman. Ever since I can remember I have been crafting with wood, but it wasn’t until I reached further education that I realised my true passion.
How would you describe a typical working day?
I think I’m not the only designer who’d say that my working day doesn’t have a start or an end. Fortunately I live five minutes away from my studio in Clapton, Hackney where six of us share a wonderful space in an old industrial warehouse. I tend to start the day in the office with a cup of coffee before I head downstairs to get more hands-on.
This might be in the form of model making, refining prototypes or making bespoke items for private clients. The great thing about sharing the space is that we bounce ideas around and, of course, collective lunches are a must as are regular cups of tea.
“My designs are materialisations of an idea, explorations in form and function.”
What was the inspiration for your first collection for Heal’s?
My second major job in London was furnishing an entire flat in Holland Park. At this point I realised that whatever your background or wealth, space is a major issue. I wanted to create a commercial product and challenged myself to design something that required problem solving yet was elegant, functional and commercially viable.
Describe the design process for this collection
I spent around six months on this project, in between working on my bespoke work. Often it starts with sketching, in this case, with simple geometry on paper. From these sketches, ideas immerge, ideas that are then refined by further sketching.
A rough scaled model soon follows to better understand the three-dimensional challenges of the folding mechanism. In total, I think there were five full prototypes and just as many full scale prototypes of joint detailing and hinging methods. Each one getting simpler than the previous, in aesthetics and manufacturing.
What would you say are the standout features of your collection that set it apart from other designs out there?
The stand out features are its folding mechanism and the staining process. The former is the basis of the whole range I developed, the latter is an exploration into chemical free wood colouring processes on a large scale. Both are simple, clever, elegant and innovative.
How important do think projects such as Heal’s Discovers are to showcasing new talent?
It is a fantastic gateway into the industry of manufactured goods of high quality and esteem. For my first commercial piece to be taken on by such an institution was very exciting, to say the least. I couldn’t quite believe it, didn’t want to believe it in case it didn’t, for whatever reason, happen.
Discover My Ami
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HEAL'S DISCOVERS
HEAL'S DISCOVERS
Ed Heritage
As part of this season’s Heal’s Discovers initiative, we’re delighted to introduce Ed Heritage, an award-winning UK-based designer whose signature style of clean geometry and playful details is reflected in the beautiful lamp he created.
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