15 Aug Lloyd Loom X William Warren and the new Brando stacking chair
Lloyd Loom Manufacturing are proud to be working with renowned designer William Warren. We have an exclusive arrangement with him of which our first production will be a stacking loom chair.
The basic form of the Brando stacking chair, for café, restaurant or domestic use was originally conceived as part of the Elves project.
Whilst the assembly workers were away, and assisted by two of Lloyd Loom’s loyal craftsmen, the designers with no set agenda, helped themselves to standard components, experimented and reinterpreted. Over the intense and frantic two days, thirteen new concepts were conceived and left in the factory showroom for the staff to find on Monday morning.
The Brando chair is developed from those pieces. They were production ready prototypes that respond to the history and preserve the heritage that is the Lloyd Loom Manufacturing famous paper weave.
“I chose to organise this exercise to condense the long drawn-out process that typically comes with developing new designs for big established companies. The quick process meant the designers were full of enthusiasm and it ensured that all the new concepts generated would be almost production ready. That is – if the prototypes were made in the factory then reproducing them should be easy” say’s William.
The frames of traditional Lloyd Loom furniture are assembled from complex steam-bent wooden components. This amazing engineering in wood is normally hidden under the weave and then often painted over, the designers were keen to make more of this hidden structure. By cutting and combining these stock wooden bends in new ways each designer was able to ‘sketch’ full size in 3D, avoiding the need for drawing or computer modeling.
Lloyd Loom Manufacturing’s traditional techniques refined back in the 1930s still use looms that take paper twisted into cord and weave it into their iconic upholstery fabric. The design group became fascinated in the way this woven material moved and stretched over their shaped wooden frames, creating dynamic compound curves. Experiments also looked at the material’s transparency, inherent strength and potential for flexible comfort.
The prototype ‘sketches’ that came out of the weekend opened up an enthusiastic dialogue with Lloyd Loom, and seven pieces were selected to be taken forward for further development. The resulting prototypes were shown during the London Design Festival at Design Junction and at Decorex.
If you would like to find out more about the New Brando Stacking chair please contact us : email info@lloydloommanufacturing.com or call us on 01775 767011
About William Warren
William Warren runs a furniture and product design consultancy.
His approach is to answer briefs in lateral way, with attention paid to questioning utility and improving the overall emotional experience of the user. His products ask the viewer to think about their belongings, and are often humorous in their conceptual twist.
He works in a wide variety of materials, designing products and furniture for the domestic and educational markets.
William is a Senior Lecturer at London Metropolitan University and he also lectures in Kingston University, Goldsmiths College, Camberwell College of Art and Central Saint Martins.
About Lloyd Loom
Lloyd Loom Manufacturing are the premier producers of Genuine British Lloyd Loom Furniture. We make heirloom products, demonstrated by offering customers a guarantee on all our products.
As we manufacture all of our furniture at our Spalding factory so we are able to offer a full range of colours. For our cushions we have a wide variety of fabric optionsavailable. Furthermore we can also cater for customers own material.
We can produce non-standard or bespoke Lloyd Loom chairs and furniture that our clients require. Our Lloyd Loom retail products are only available through authorised retailers. Finally we do not make Lloyd Loom for any other suppliers.
For more information about Lloyd Loom Manufacturing, to order our Classic Collection catalogue. For help and advice about our Lloyd Loom range contact us via email info@lloydloommanufacturing.com or call us on 01775 767011