Christmas comes early to The Conran Shop

Christmas came early yesterday at The Conran Shop‘s press day.

The Shop’s Christmas collection includes stockingfulls of gifts for everyone from dads to dogs. In fact, they’ve done the hard work for you, putting together collections of gifts for all the important people in your life, whether they’re a gardener, jet setter or technophile.

For the explorer

For the gardener

For the foodie

We were especially taken by the aeroplane and ambulance baby spoons (bottom right):

Cute as you like

What’s that? It’s only June? Spoilsport.

Friday Tip: A thousand words

We have a few keen photographers at Conran Towers: Yannick, an architect at Conran and Partners, makes short films with his brother, and our CEO Roger Mavity takes some remarkable fine art pictures.

Sam and Stephen, Conran Singh‘s resident shutterbugs, recommended Edward Burtynsky’s acclaimed ‘OIL’ show at The Photographers’ Gallery for this week’s Friday Tip. The show explores our relationship with the black gold on which we rely, and the landscapes the oil industry leaves behind.

One of Edward Burtynsky’s breathtaking oil landscapes

It closes on 1st July, so this is very much your last chance.

If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, you could also check out The Conran Shop’s summer sale…

Happy weekend everyone!

Bright Light city

Our latest architectural project, The Light in Brighton, has just been given the go-ahead.

The project will turn the former ice rink in Queen Square into The Light ApartHotel, featuring sumptuous guest rooms, serviced luxury apartments, a café and a restaurant. It will be a further boon to Brighton’s tourist industry.

Photo Finnish: celebrating Avotakka’s 45 years

Our (countless) Finish readers may be familiar with the Avotakka, the premier Finnish interior design magazine. Avotakka launched in December 1967, and in their inaugural issue ran a interview with a British trailblazer by the name of Terence Conran.

Introducing the Rural Modernists

In last Friday’s Times, Harry Mount penned a piece about the Modernism that is beginning to infuse rural architecture.

Typically, the countryside has been architecturally staid, with new properties cleaving firmly to the styles of old: thatched cottages, brick piles and Tudor mansions. But this is beginning to change.

The Welcome Trailblazers

The Love Architecture festival has been entertaining Brightoners all week, and last night it was our turn. Conran and Partners’ Brighton office held an exhibition of Jim Stephenson‘s photographs of their architectural projects around the world. Entitled Collaboration, the exhibition was accompanied by an essay by arts commentator Cara Courage.

A great evening was had by all.

Thanks to Jim, Cara and Gem Barton, who has curated the Welcome Trail of exhibitions as part of Love Architecture, for their hard work, and thanks to everyone who came along!

The new Conran standards

If you picked up a copy of World of Interiors this month, you may have spied this, a double-page spread celebrating The Conran Shop’s 25th year of trading, and showing off the stunning new Flagship collection.

As a destination for the best and most beautiful designer homewares in the world, The Conran Shop has long been a favourite lifestyle retailer of designers and decorators worldwide.

The Conran shop founded by Terence Conran, has its roots in London, where it was responsible for the revival of the iconic Michelin House building in Chelsea. Over the years the Conran name has become synonymous with all areas of design, from architecture and restaurants to cookware and soft furnishings.

The new ‘Flagship’ collection, available exclusively in the Chelsea store, re-establishes what The Conran Shop has always stood for – improving the lives of its customers with inspirational pieces to be loved for life, discovered in a visually stimu- lating environment. The new collection combines luxury, comfort and flair built on a palette of wood, cream, whites and beige, injected with classic Conran blue to create a timeless look. With over 3,000 lines of new and exciting products, the spring collection is the first phase of an ongoing redevelopment of the brand, which focuses on beautiful textures, honest materials and their British heritage.

You can see more of the Flagship collection at The Conran Shop Chelsea.

Love Architecture? Love collaboration.

As part of Brighton’s Love Architecture festival, which is taking place right now, arts commentator Cara Courage has put together an exhibition of Jim Stephenson’s photography of Conran and Partners’ architectural projects. The exhibition, entitled Collaboration, explores one of the many collaborations that typify architecture: between photographers and architects.

© Jim Stephenson

Friday Tip: We’re bad at keeping secrets

This week’s Friday Tip comes from Orla, one of Conran Studio‘s brand design team.

You may have heard of Secret Cinema, the themed pop-up cinema experience which involves a lot of dressing up and just as much fun. Last December, the team behind Secret Cinema opened a pop-up restaurant along similar lines, ingeniously titled Secret Restaurant.

Hoverhauling Brighton

Excuse the pun, please.

The head of our Brighton architecture office, Paul Zara, took to The Argus recently to talk about Brighton and Hove’s acute housing crisis, and his opinions on how to solve it.