Love This #66: Original BTC British Lighting Manufacturers

When I was at the London Design Centre recently there was one shop that I was always going to visit, and that was Original BTC. I have some of their Beadlight wall lights in the Conservatory - and while they're not cheap - they are, I think a timeless classic.  And I love this photo I captured of the range in the showroom.

BEADLIGHT

BEADLIGHT

But let's see more of their lights, because there's plenty more to see.  These grouped pendants looked great. I like that their light is directed down but have yet to find where I could put them in our house.

DROP PENDANTS

DROP PENDANTS

These wall lights were slightly more unusual as they were displayed in what you could only call uplights, they are in fact portable lights.

PORTABLE PLEAT WALL LIGHTS

PORTABLE PLEAT WALL LIGHTS

The Chester spotlights reminded me of spotlights from my youth so I think it's fair to say they have a retro feel. The copper trend is still big in home furnishings - it was evident too at the Ideal Home Show, which I went along to at the weekend - but I'm still not sure.  The Walter table lamp was close to convincing me though, with its smoky glass.

WALTER & CHESTER

WALTER & CHESTER

WALTER TABLE LAMPS

WALTER TABLE LAMPS

I spent a while in the bulkhead section because we're tempted to change our dining room light, and if we do something like this is high on our list. The problem is we still like the light we have above our table, it still works perfectly well and even though it's not as modern as these with its brushed chrome finish it's not old-fashioned either.  The other concern we have is the amount of light we'd get out of one of these kinds of light, I think when we get closer to a decision we'd need to do some research and take advice on this.  

But in the meantime I can still admire them!

bulkhead lights

The other lights that caught my eye were these pastel green table lamps. I'm not usually one for pastel colours but I could quite happily find a home for these - well, if we weren't already maxxed out on table lamps, that is!

PALE GREEN LAMPS

PALE GREEN LAMPS

They matched perfectly the display of Branksome China, another UK manufacturer based in Stoke-on-Trent.   They're not a brand I've seen before but they're one I'll be looking at again I'm sure.

BRANKSOME CHINA
BRANKSOME CHINA

Gorgeous aren't they? 

 

A sculpture in paper

We're back inside the London Design Centre again today, this time on the ground floor in the South Dome and it's about something special. It's something slightly unusual for my usual "month in paper" post and it's hard to believe this is made entirely from paper, but it is. 

This sculpture in paper was commissioned by the Design Centre to celebrate London Design Week 2016 and this floral couture-inspired gown by Zoe Bradley is the result. 

sculpture in paper

Isn't it fabulous?

The theme of the London Design Week show was blue so this fits that perfectly and the shape of the skirt also mimics the domes that I showed in yesterday's post.  There's quite a bit of work in this sculpture too - and I think sculpture is the right word, don't you?

There's 400 handmade flowers on display here, and I bet you can't guess how many petals?  

floral detail
floral paper close up

The wild roses are made up of 2,500 petals, chrysanthemums with 1,188 petals and there's 3,500 leaves.  And there's 17,500 folds in the whole piece too.  If I could make one flower that looked as good as this I think I'd be happy!

floral couture-inspired gown
papercraft by Zoe Bradley

It really was something to see and something like I've not seen before, but something I'm glad I did.

Zoe Bradley London Design Week 2016