One of the forerunners of industrial style, founder Peter Bowles’ updated classics and original designs are inspired by traditional factory fittings, childhood toys and iconic 1940s design. Three UK production facilities are dedicated to constructing the beautifully unprocessed lights: aluminium shades and bases are hand-spun from sheet metal in the heart of the country’s metal-working industry and sent to Oxford for assembly, while bone china shades are hand-cast in Stoke-on-Trent.
Quality, detail and mix of materials is key: metallic painted, glass or china shades are paired with polished, satin or chromed bases, offset by matching cotton braided flex. Functional and practical, stems can be raised and lowered and shades angled to create the perfect ambience.
With their neat styling and instantly classic feel, Original BTC lights can be spotted in the chicest of interiors, from Paris’ latest concept store, Merci, to Carrie Bradshaw’s New York apartment via Gordon Ramsay’s Maze and the new Daylesford Organic Café in Westbourne Grove.
While inspiration is drawn from all quarters - an antique lamp used to keep chicks warm or the searchlight on the back of a toy lorry - authenticity and attention to detail remain at the heart of the collection. When a visit to the Stoke-on-Trent shade manufacturer revealed the factory was under threat of closure, Bowles promptly took on the business, including all staff. Later, unsatisfied with the finish of commonly-used plastic lighting flex, he replaced it with woven cotton braid snipped off the family iron, soon becoming one of Original BTC’s best-loved design features.Today, over 70% of Original BTC’s lights are exported worldwide, with their simple elegance recognised internationally by design luminaries including Andree Putman, John Pawson and Terence Conran.
http://www.originalbtc.com/
http://www.originalbtc.com/
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