A Disused London Fire Station Has Been Taken Over by Designers

Summary

• Max Radford Gallery and Ercol have joined forces to create a furniture collection alongside six emerging designers
• The “Grain Pile” show is part of this year’s London Design Festival, and brings together Andu Masebo, Eddie Olin, Joe Armitage,  Jaclyn Pappalardo, Isabel Alonso, and Lewis Kemmenoe

Exhibition space isn’t easy to come by in a city like London, and sometimes, you’ve just got to improvise. In Max Radford’s case, the perfect location for his London Design Festival show came in the form of an old fire station, which the gallerist has filled with pieces by some of the capital’s best emerging talent.

“Grain Pile” brings together six designers: Andu Masebo, Eddie Olin, Joe Armitage,  Jaclyn Pappalardo, Isabel Alonso, and Lewis Kemmenoe. In collaboration with Ercol, each has crafted a new body of work, working closely alongside the British brand’s factories and materials.

Andu Masebo’s “Seconds Stools” make use of parts that were defective components of furniture from Ercol’s production line. Typical of his style, each is finished in a block color, breathing new life into a material that would’ve otherwise been unused.

Lewis Kemmenoe also employed a technique for which he is known, creating playful patterns on the sides of his rocking chair using marquetry. Eddie Olin marked his first time working with wood, creating a black-stained dining set complete with his signature metal work details, and Isabel Alonso designed a series of low tables crafted from three components: an arch, a cylinder, and a surface.

The show is complete with works from Joe Armitage and Jaclyn Pappalardo. Armitage, who was born and raised in London, looked to the city’s architecture for inspiration for his armchair, which features details inspired by Keeling House by modernist architect Denys Lasdun.

Pappalardo was the only designer to veer away from tables and chairs, and instead crafted a cabinet based on the nostalgia she felt towards Ercol furniture.

For Radford, the year-long project is the perfect example of how the UK’s design industry can support both itself and emerging talent.

“As a gallery, we tend to focus on UK-based talent, and to collaborate with one of the only large-scale UK-based producers feels like a perfect match,” he says. “It’s good to see the design industry supporting emerging design talent in a meaningful way.”

“Max and I had been talking over the last few years about trying to find a meaningful way to work together,” said Henry Tadros, chairman of Ercol and great-grandson of Lucian Ercolani. “I wanted to be able to let the designers use Ercol as an inspiration and then as a tool to realise their designs where we could.”

Grain Pile is on show as part of this year’s London Design Festival, which is taking place across the city until September 21.