If you’ve ever dined in a Conran restaurant, Quaglino’s or Bibendum,
say, or bought a piece of furniture from Habitat or The Conran Shop, the
inimitable yet classically simple style of Sir Terence Conran, one of
the World’s greatest living designers, will be very familiar to you.
His love of clean lines, effortless shapes and natural materials has
influenced contemporary design around the globe, and now he and his team
at Benchmark want to bring their own particular range of modern-day
classic furniture
to a wider audience.
Benchmark Furniture was actually born out of Benchmark Woodworking, a
design-led manufacturer of furniture and joinery, established by Sean
Sutcliffe and Terence Conran over 20 years ago. Its prestigious
contracts include the Eden Project, Vodafone World Headquarters and, of
course, all of the Conran restaurants. Norman Foster and Richard Rogers
have become regular clients and the company has grown, today employing
45 local people. Rather than keep all of Benchmark’s skill and
creativity confined to the corporate market, however, it was decided
last year to sell directly to the public. The stable block in the ground
of Sir Terence’s Berkshire home was converted into a showroom and
Benchmark’s catalogue started dropping on selected doormats.
As well as the many pieces of Conran-designed furniture in the range,
other designers have also contributed. Says Matthew Cook, Benchmark’s
Marketing Manager: “What we are trying to do is go for the next
generation. Terence is very behind us on this. One of his aims is that
people will buy not a Conran table, but a Benchmark table.”
Other young internationally renowned designers, like Thomas Heatherwick,
are producing pieces for Benchmark, alongside names like Shin and Tomoko
Azumi.
Each piece of Benchmark Furniture comes with a mark in the form of a
discreetly fixed polished pewter disc that is individually numbered. A
record of the piece and the purchaser is kept on a register so that in
the future its authenticity can be checked.
“We tend to skirt around the phrase ‘antiques of the future.’ It sounds
a bit too twee,” says Matthew. He pauses for a while, then adds, “But,
yes, I suppose they are.”
Benchmark Furniture, Bath Road, Kintbury, Hungerford.
Tel: 01488 608020 www.benchmark-furniture.com
Showroom Opening Times
Mon-Sat: 10am-6pm
or by appointment. |