The London home that helped shape a new lighting design
Where do you look when your piece of industrial design, in this case a lamp, gets stuck in the development phase?
Running a design studio can be challenging and isolating. Inspiration for your work can be wide-ranging, spanning everything from art to everyday objects. For designer Joe Armitage, architecture is such a source. “I was stuck on the design of a lamp but a discussion with architect William Smalley helped me to finish it,” says Armitage. The longtime friends were discussing Smalley’s London Modernism, a mid-century courtyard house and refurbishment project in the southwest of the UK capital, which the architect believed might have some details that could help Armitage to complete his design. “There’s a Smalley-designed bench in the entryway,” says Armitage. “He asked me, ‘Why not add a curved element, similar to the bench, to the bottom of the table lamp? It’s practical and you can keep your keys or pen there.’”
If the marriage of practicality and aesthetics in Smalley’s advice wasn’t convincing enough, a visit to the project proved to Armitage that the curved element would complement the lamp’s design. This ultimately became the starting point for the design’s completion. The addition also reflects the ethos of Smalley’s work: projects that put people at their heart through meticulous attention to detail and rich material selections, exemplified by said bench at London Modernism. “We always like to provide a seat at the entrance to our houses for those coming and going to take off wet shoes and tie laces. In this project the bench is inside, next to the front door, with a gently curved seat along its considerable length, carved from sapele wood,” says Smalley. “The base of Joe’s desk lamp took a cue from this following a conversation that we had about how to soften the lighting and make it feel personal.”
The home and resulting lighting collection – called Modernist – use these curves to soften spaces. At London Modernism, for instance, a bending staircase leads to a primary-bedroom suite that Smalley added atop the original single storey mid-century home designed by Leslie Gooday. The staircase’s curvature eases the journey to bed. Armitage’s collection includes a desk lamp, two wall sconces and two overhead suspension lights. The lamp’s curved base invites human touch, while its distinct U-channel shades gently cast light across interior spaces.
Like Smalley’s work, Armitage’s collection features rich materiality: most fixtures feature walnut-and-brass components, while the shades are made from PET felt parchment developed in close collaboration with a Swiss engineering firm. To come full circle, the collection was installed – albeit temporarily – in London Modernism (pictured), bringing together the lighting and the architecture that inspired it.
