Orange and Grey

It is always really interesting seeing how our upholstery fabrics are used. Over the past few months we have had a run on the Belmont and Totley fabrics from our Aerial range - both designs are in the hot orange with black and white marl. 

Here are a few of the projects:

Above is a pair of Ercol Windsor chairs in the Belmont fabric used on the A side. They are by 'Be Seated' in Edinburgh. I really like the dark frames and the little pop of the orange side in the buttons. 

This pair of chairs, re-upholstered in the Totley A-side and the Bilsdale A-side are original CC41 utility chairs. I love the playful curve of the arms - it is so interesting how the parameters governing the use of materials in the utility scheme led to some really thoughtful, clean, pared-back design.

The dark-wood Ercol two-seater below was re-upholstered in the Totley by Mick Sheridan. I really like the hot orange against the dark wood and the single large seat cushion.

And finally the pair of 'Mabel' Danish midcentury chairs below by Pelikan . One chair is covered in the A-side side of the Belmont fabric and its pair in the B-side.

The detailing on the arms is wonderful - and it is such a nice example of the scope of the fabric for reversibility.

Things which caught my eye this weekend

Shipping and Packing

We do all of our packing and shipping from here in the studio. After each blanket or cushion is sewn, checked and labelled it is ready to ship.

We use good sturdy cardboard boxes to ship as the blankets are sent all over the world and they need to arrive ship-shape. At busy times of the year we have many shipments going out each week  - so that is a lot of cardboard and a couple of kilometres of parcel tape!

For our internet orders we pack each piece in brown paper from Paperback Papers - a London based employee-owned cooperative specializing in recycled paper and board. We really like our embossed day-glo stickers which make a lovely contrast to the brown paper. It's very much the Julie Andrews / Sound of Music approach to packing.

In the Press

We were very pleased to have our Signal blanket included in Matthew Morris's Wallpaper feature 'Learning Curve' this month...

... and equally delighted have it included in the Icon magazine's 'British Design Report' for 2014

... very pleased too to be featured in the second edition of Modern Rustics with a nice piece by Caroline Atkins.

English Magic

We were in Margate last week, visiting the Turner Contemporary Gallery. Wonderful exhibition of Jeremy Deller's Venice Biennale show 'English Magic'. I loved the film which formed part of the exhibition - with an amazing soundtrack of Vaughan Williams, David Bowie and A Guy Called Gerald played by the Melodians Steel orchestra. 

I also really liked the huge murals. The one above called 'A Good Day for Cyclists' of a hen harrier with a range rover in its claws was painted by Sarah Tynan.

Also rather taken with Arlington House - a striking piece of 1960's brutalism by Russell Diplock Architects. The block is set just back from the sea front, overlooking the beach. It seems quite unexpected among the Victorian seaside architecture and 'kiss me quick' arcades - and all the better for the juxtaposition. I like all the angles and facets - although I imagine it must feel pretty wind-swept up on the eighteenth floor.

Holborn Library

I love this pattern on the facade of Holborn Library - I have walked past it hundreds of times and taken lots of photos of it over the years... But yesterday was the first time I had seen the interior of the building.

The library, which opened in 1960, was built by the Holborn Borough Council Architects department under the direction of Sydney Cook. The architectural design is attributed to Cook's deputy Ernest Ives and assistants I D Aylot and E L Ansell, who worked closely with the Holborn Borough Librarian J Swift.

There is much more detail about the design and architecture of the library on the Twentieth Century Society Website 

Last weekend the building was open specially for an Artangel installation by Brazilian artist Jose Damasceno. The work is called Plot and is made up of a number of different interventions through the building, the most prominent being this streetscape of 1970's Letraset architectural figures installed on the ceiling of the double height space. It works well in the space, and I liked all the monochrome bit-map shading and patterns on the silhouettes.

Perhaps even more exciting for me was all the original 1950's detailing throughout the building. I particularly liked this mosaic in the stairwell with the distorted hexagon forms echoing the facade on the front of the building.

I love that pop of yellow against all the soft greys and greens and lavenders.

There are lots of intact details throughout the building - including this lettering worked on the doorplates. It feels as though the design was really well thought through - right down to the last detail.

Even the back stairs have a lovely grand feeling with the use of warm wood for the banisters and the paneling at the return of the stairs banisters juxtaposed against a cladding of formica on the side walls.

This is a detail of the formica paneling - I love the way that pattern was integrated into the surfaces and materials of the building.

And I have to say that I can't resist a bit of library paraphernalia. Here is a lovely card index in the Local Studies Archive room, and below a random collection of drawing pins in an old unused notice board.

Trunk blankets - post script

We have had a set of swing tags specially made for our Trunk Marker and Signal blankets. Elliott from Victory Press has just dropped them round - and I must say they look wonderful.

They are printed in copper foil on a beautiful light grey textured board. Now they just need stringing with linen yarn. 

The Trunk blankets and our Loop Furniture collaboration with Sfera are featured in the Trunk LABS window for the London Design Festival - please see details here.