Retrospect

BD Magazine - Interiors - September 2007

1968: Concord

On the right lighting track

With a competent woman at the sharp end of a lighting track and her male colleague looking really rather superfluous, this photograph in a 1968 brochure from lighting company Concord Rotaflex comes to us from the era when bras were burned and gender roles blurred.

Our pair of shopfitters are using the company’s Lytespots on Lytespan track, two products that are still available today in their modern incarnations. One fitting in the range, the Quartet Major, won first prize in the Aluminium Design Awards 1966.

Concord Rotaflex was one of the first companies to bring track lighting to the UK and the European market in 1961, following an agreement with US company Lightolier. The company was later known as Concord Lighting, which in 2000 merged with Marlin Lighting to become Concord Marlin.

But many things don’t change. In fact, current Lytespan 1 spotlights still fit Concord single-circuit track from 1961, and spotlights from the same era work with today’s track. And Concord Marlin still receives enquiries for spotlights and track systems installed over 30 years ago — although we suspect only the systems installed by a woman.

1948: Edinburgh weavers

Experimenting with weave

In the 1920s, textile firm Morton Sundour decided to establish an experimental unit, Edinburgh Weavers. It was headed by Alistair Morton, who commissioned leading artists — including painter Alan Reynolds and textile artist Lucienne Day — to create patterns, and built up a reputation for cutting-edge design. The firm was often commissioned by architects to design fabrics for specific interiors.

1930: steelcase

Good for business

One of the earliest editions of Business Week magazine included this advert for Steelcase office furniture.

This 1930 advert promotes the Steelcase Calculating Machine desk, which was available in four finishes with a “weatherproof linoleum top”.

Originally known as the Metal Office Furniture Company, founded in Michigan in 1912, Steelcase saw Business Week as an excellent advertising vehicle and ran a continuous campaign in its pages. “Found where business succeeds” endured as a slogan for nearly 50 years, summing up the company’s belief that Steelcase desks promoted greater worker efficiency.

1962: G-Plan

From fighter planes to fab furniture

G-Plan furniture has a special place in the history of British furniture design, and in the homes of anyone who grew up middle class in the 1970s. The company was founded by Ebenezer Gomme in 1898, and during World War II was involved in the production of wooden Mosquito fighter planes.

But its heyday was 20 years later, when it was responsible for a number of innovations. Selling directly to the consumer, it latched onto the fashion for teak furniture and Scandinavian styling, and invested heavily in TV advertising. Product innovations included flip-action extending dining tables and modular furniture ranges such as Form Five display units. The Gomme family sold its shares in the company in 1987.

The G-Plan Revolution by Basil Hyman and Steven Braggs, published by Booth-Clibborn editions and distributed by Thames & Hudson, is published next month. Priced £30, the book will tell the full story of G Plan and its influence in the post-war era.

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