Download - Luke Hughes: The Story So Far
L u k e H u g H e s is furniture designer to Britain’s best-loved buildings
and some of the world’s most powerful brands. The company, formed out
of Luke’s original craft workshop, now specialises in designing furniture for
the prestige areas of public and corporate buildings.
He and his design team have, since moving the studio to Covent Garden
some 30 years ago, designed furniture for more than 50 Oxbridge colleges,
80 churches, 17 cathedrals, 8 embassies, 7 national museums, 5 Royal
palaces, 2 Supreme Courts, 41 luxury spas in international hotels and more
than 900 boardrooms for major international corporations.
Only now is Luke Hughes and Company making its formidable experience
available to an international audience.
timeline:the story so far…
19821982 1983 19841981 1982 1983 1984
ce
ll
o m
us
ic c
ab
ine
t
fin
an
cia
l t
ime
s d
es
kl
ibe
rt
y m
irr
or c
or
ne
r
sc
re
en h
ing
e
pr
ev
in c
or
ne
r c
up
bo
ar
d
L u k e H u g H e s was educated at Cambridge University before setting
up a small craft workshop in the back-yard of a house in Bloomsbury in 1978,
then moving to Covent Garden in 1981. He established Luke Hughes and
Company in 1986, at that time producing design work and prototypes for
Liberty & Co., Heals and John Lewis Partnership.
Hughes’s design philosophy is heavily influenced by the principles of the Arts and
Crafts Movement, not least about the nature of craftsmanship. Another central
principle is that, in any quality building, the connection between architecture and
furniture should be seamless: most buildings cannot function without furniture,
yet inappropriate pieces grossly undermine great architecture.
Since 1990, he has focused on design for public spaces, particularly in the
corporate, leisure, institutional and ecclesiastical sectors – usually for buildings
with significant architectural interiors.
19 8 2 -19 8 4 Luke Hughes
produced one-off commissions
for many private clients.
fin
an
cia
l t
ime
s d
es
k
re
fe
ct
or
y c
ha
ir
tib
eta
n s
cr
ee
n
st
ua
rt s
mit
h d
es
k
ch
ur
ch c
ha
irt
ri-
ar
c t
ab
le
pr
es
en
tat
ion t
o t
he q
ue
en
mo
un
tain
ee
rin
g
‘we
ll t
imb
er
ed’
ar
tic
le
no
te
ry
el
m b
ox
lib
er
ty w
ind
ow
de
sig
n
lib
er
ty m
irr
or c
or
ne
r
19 8 5 First commercial
designs for retail sector; clients
include John Lewis Partnership,
Liberty’s, Heals, and General
Trading Company.
19861985 1987 1988
‘ I t L o o k s m o d e r n b u t I s d e e p Ly r o o t e d
I n t H e e n g L I s H t r a d I t I o n o f r o b u s t
d e s I g n a n d H I g H c r a f t s m a n s H I p ’ c a b I n e t m a k e r j o u r n a L
19 8 6 Formation of Luke
Hughes & Co Ltd; first share
capital issued under Business
Expansion Scheme.
19 8 7 Frostbite whilst on Tibet
mountaineering expedition forces
change of emphasis in favour of
producing own designs by other
chosen craftsmen.
19 8 8 -19 8 9 Development
of ranges for retail sector.
19901989 1991 1992
ac
ad
em
y c
ha
ir
tr
oj
an t
ab
le
s
co
at s
tan
d
do
wn
ing
co
ll
eg
e l
ibr
ar
y
tab
le &
do
wn
ing
ch
air
co
ns
ol
e d
es
k
‘co
nt
em
po
ra
ry c
la
ss
ics’
th
e t
ime
s,
ju
ly
tis
bu
ry w
or
ks
ho
p
co
rp
us c
hr
ist
th
e t
el
eg
ra
ph a
rt
icl
e
‘ t H e f u r n I t u r e t H e y m a k e H a s b e c o m e
a n I n t r I n s I c p a r t o f t H e a r c H I t e c t u r a L
H e r I ta g e o f b r I ta I n ’ s b e s t b u I L d I n g s ’ I n d I a n f u r n I t u r e j o u r n a L
19 9 0 Second BES share issue;
establishment of workshop in
Tisbury, Wiltshire.
19 9 1 First Oxbridge commission
(Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge); first exploitation of
computer aided design.
19 9 2 Growing sales to
Oxbridge colleges; first
commission for Foreign Office
(British Embassy in Buenos
Aires); first order over £250k
(Merton College).
do
wn
ing
co
ll
eg
e l
ibr
ar
y
tab
le &
do
wn
ing
ch
air
co
rp
us c
hr
ist
bb
l d
es
k
cr
af
ts a
rt
icl
e
ne
wn
ha
m d
es
k
pe
ar
so
n t
ab
le
19941993 1995 1996
vu
lc
an t
ab
le
fo
lio
ch
air
em
ma
nu
el c
ol
le
ge l
ec
tu
re t
he
at
re
19 9 3 -19 9 6 Projects evenly
distributed between corporate
and institutional market.
19 9 3 Development of
relationships with blue chip
corporations, merchant banks
and legal firms; first corporate
order over £350k (CSC).
19 9 4 Closure of Tisbury
workshop in favour of strategic
partnerships with other
specialist workshops.
19 9 6 -19 9 9 First standard
ranges of meeting room tables
and chairs developed.
19 9 6 The company achieves
ISO 9001 registration for its
quality management.
‘ t H e c o n n e c t I o n b e t w e e n f u r n I t u r e
a n d a r c H I t e c t u r e s H o u L d b e s e a m L e s s ’
L u k e H u g H e s
pe
ar
so
n t
ab
le
ch
ar
te
rh
ou
se s
tac
kin
g
be
nc
he
s
min
er
va
fit
zr
oy c
ha
irs
na
po
le
on c
ha
irs
t h
ug
h’s
co
ll
eg
e
ma
nd
ar
in o
rie
nta
l,
hy
de
pa
rk
br
itis
h e
mb
as
sy,
mo
sc
ow
19981997 1999 2000
19 9 7 Major public commission
of furniture for new British
Embassy in Moscow.
19 9 8 First commission over
£500K (St Hugh’s College, Oxford).
19 9 9 Relationships established
with wider furniture constituency
including Bisley, Wilkhan
and Vitra; offices extended to
accommodate growing business.
2 0 0 0 First venture making
spa furniture for luxury
international hotels (Mandarin
Oriental); start of exclusive
production and marketing of
Wales & Wales street furniture;
website launched.
‘ I w a n t e d t o s ay H o w m u c H I H a v e
a p p r e c I at e d a n d a d m I r e d y o u r d e s I g n
s k I L L s a n d d e t e r m I n at I o n t o g e t t H I n g s
e x a c t Ly r I g H t ’ a L a n s t a n t o n w I L L I a m s
min
er
va
ma
nd
ar
in o
rie
nta
l,
hy
de
pa
rk
mil
le
nn
ium
alt
ar,
br
ist
ol c
at
he
dr
al
su
pr
em
e c
ou
rt l
ibr
ar
yw
yk
eh
am
ch
air
am
ad
eu
s
cu
rz
on f
lip
ta
bl
eu
k s
up
re
me c
ou
rt l
ibr
ar
y
me
rc
ur
y t
ab
le
dia
ge
o20022001 2003 2004
2 0 0 1 Millennium altar, Bristol
Cathedral; extension of corporate
work into multi-media.
2 0 0 2 Increasing use of glass,
stone, resins and other materials.
2 0 0 3 First commission of
£750K (Supreme Court LIbrary,
Edinburgh).
2 0 0 4 First client for whom
collective orders total more than
£1M (BP).
cu
rz
on f
lip
ta
bl
e
st
ud
io t
ab
le
ch
ur
ch in
te
rio
rs
un
ile
ve
r
st g
eo
rg
es c
ha
pl
e w
ind
or
th
ea
tr
e r
oy
al
mis
sa
l s
tan
d
un
ile
ve
r
uk s
up
re
me c
ou
rt l
ibr
ar
y
20062005 2007 2008
2 0 0 6 First client for whom
collective orders exceed £2M
(RBS); 50th Oxbridge college
(Gonville & Caius, Cambridge);
25th anniversary celebration
held at St George’s, Bloomsbury.
‘ w H e n I s a w t H e n e w c H a I r s I n t H e
L I b r a r y, I H a d t H e c u r I o u s s e n s e t H at
t H e y H a d a L w ay s b e e n t H e r e , s o r I g H t
d o t H e y L o o k . a s t o t H e c r a f t s m a n s H I p,
I t I s s u p e r b …’ b u r s a r , k e b L e c o L L e g e , o x f o r d
2 0 0 7 Largest corporate
project for Unilever (£800K);
average annual turnover £3.5M;
appointment as designers for UK
Supreme Court.
2 0 0 8 Luke Hughes begins
lecture tours on Sustainability in
Design in Far East and Australia.
Major projects include Theatre
Royal, Bury St Edmunds and
Chichester Cathedral. RBS total
spend with LHCL exceeds £6M;
credit crunch begins.
th
ea
tr
e r
oy
al
je
su
s c
ol
le
ge
hm
th
e q
ue
en
lu
xu
ry s
pa b
ed
bo
tan
ic d
es
k
pr
oc
es
sio
na
l c
an
dl
e
st a
lb
an
s
st g
ile
s h
oly
ta
bl
e
th
e r
oy
al w
ed
din
g
no
rt
h h
ou
se
ah
ec
co
nf
er
en
ce
20102009 2011 2012
2 0 0 9 New designs for luxury
spa market launched; new
corporate table range (MOKI)
first developed and installed.
Other projects include Sainsbury
Botanic Institute, and St Albans
Cathedral.
2 0 1 0 - 2 0 12 More work
for British Museum, St Paul’s
Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
for the Royal Wedding. Other
major projects include all the
new furniture of the HQ of the
Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts
and the Botanic Institute with
Stanton Williams (value £700K).
2 0 11 Luke Hughes continues
to lecture tours in Middle East
and Australia.
2 0 1 0 Shortlisted for the
Walpole Awards for Excellence for
outstanding achievement in design,
craftsmanship, business and culture.
Past winners include Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars, Dunhill, Paul Smith,
Goodwood, Links of London,
Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Aston
Martin and Marc Jacobs.
je
su
s c
ol
le
ge
ah
ec
co
nf
er
en
ce