Bend Sofa

We now have the brand new Bend sofa from B&B Italia on display in the showroom. Designed by Patricia Urquiola and launched in Milan earlier this year, the Bend offers a very different look for B&B Italia and a range of seating at a slightly lower price point than might be expected. Bend has a sculptural quality to it and is composed of irregular shapes which are highlighted by the contrast stitching. The backrest too is irregular. The sofa is available in single pieces or can be combined into a wide range of size and corner compositions. Suitable for use in both the home and commercial environment, we are sure the Bend is going to be another B&B Italia classic.

Day 3 - 100% Design



Reedy bookcase

Outside 100% The Tramshed is a new Design Week venue this year and another lovely big space. De La Espada were showing off product from their various designers; pieces such as the Tapas dining chair by Matthew Hilton and the Reedy bookcase by Autobahn.  We also saw product from James Design UK a new British design company and some great watches by Dezeen.

Homework desk

We called in briefly to view the Cappellini and Poltrona Frau showroom, the lovely Walter Knoll space and then sprinted on to Viaduct in Clerkenwell. For design week, Viaduct had products on display from a new manufacturer called Bensen;  The Brix range of drawers are available in 2 different sizes and 4 colours and can be supplied on small legs or plinths. There is a desk called Homework which we loved; a glass top and either one or two drawers in lacquer, this was very simple and would look fantastic in almost any setting.

Watch this space for product arriving with us in Edinburgh soon!

Day 2 - 100% Design

Day Two saw us at 100% Design which continues to be focused on smaller scale producers of wallpaper, lighting and textiles. This year there was a predominance of national stands with Norway, France, Austria, Portugal and Spain all presenting lots of different designers from their countries.

We particularly liked the Secto Design lights which are handmade in laminated birch slats by Finnish craftsmen. Available in black, white or natural birch and lots of different sizes, they were beautifully elegant and simple. Buzzispace had a stand showing off their new BuzziBooth designed for quiet individual working; acoustically excellent and an ideal place to use a mobile phone in a noisy exhibition hall! Also on display were the Buzzi L cubes available in flat felt or 3D felt which we loved and thought were very commercially priced.

Silent Gliss were the other main highlight of 100% Design really useful and showcasing their new curved panel system. Designed to create corners, gentle curves or complete circles there are lots of fabric options and many possible uses both domestically and commercially.

100% Design

Design Week in London gets bigger and busier every year.  This year Julian and Sarah visited for 2 days to try and see as much as possible.  We visited Tom Dixon at The Dock and were reminded how much we liked the Void Light.  We also saw some fantastic one off pieces by Piet Hein Eek which were made in lacquered scrap wood and absolutely stunning!  Moooi have recently moved into new premises in the Portobello Dock area, a big beautiful white space which shows the product range off brilliantly: Raimond lights, lots of upholstery pieces and the new Emperor lights. 

Black & Lizars

Tangram worked with the 442 Design and Black & Lizars to specify and source furniture for the refurbishment of their reception areas.  The seating from Sancal is being installed in locations throughout Scotland

Scotland's Housing Expo

A nice day out in the sun it was not - due to torrential rain. However our day trip to Scotland's Housing Expo in Inverness was very worthwhile and interesting. 52 houses designed by some of Scotland’s leading architects, intended to inspire and stimulate quality design and innovation (building materials used included shingles, rubber, zinc, timber cladding and corrugated aluminium). Sustainability was a key feature throughout all the houses.
Likes:

• House HS by Malcolm Fraser Architects - a super example of mixed materials, combining timber cladding and zinc

• The Passive Houses by HLM Architects won our award for simple, clean and green living.

• Our overall winner was Rural Design’s Secret Garden; the space was well thought out, warm and welcoming, practical yet quirky.

• GMA Architects had also achieved a very settled looking house with the use of timber cladding painted a soft grey.
• Of the larger houses we liked Twin Peaks designed by Joseph Thurrott Architects; great space for modern living

Our thoughts on the downsides?

• Internally many felt somewhat pedestrian and were disappointing; a great lack of storage space, many small bedrooms and several slightly odd mezzanine areas.

• The impact of a few houses was greatly diminished by inappropriate overdressing. The Expo has perhaps missed a trick – such a great opportunity to showcase the best of contemporary furniture and lighting.

The downsides are small. Anyone interested in architecture and sustainability should visit the Expo – a good day out and lots of food for thought.

Tangram's Advertisement

We are delighted to announce we are now advertising in The Scotsman with the first of our advertisements being shown today.  The sofa shown is the Jean by B&B Italia

Milan 2010 - Top Ten Products - Aplomb Lights by Foscarini

Aplomb by Paolo Lucidi and Luica Pevere for Foscarini is a suspension fitting made of cast concrete and available in three colours, a very tactile piece.

Milan 2010 - Top Ten Products - Bess & Bessy

Bess and Bessy by Stefan Diez are developments from the Houdini chair of last year. Using similar techniques, a sofa, lounge chair, stool and bar stool have all been designed and are soft, welcoming pieces.

Milan 2010 - Top Ten Products - Dunder Sofa System by Bla Station

Bla Stations Dunder Sofa System by Stefan Borselius designed around the concept of single pillows, each element can be used on its own. Very unusual and a big hit with the Tangram Team.

Milan 2010 - Top Ten Products - Nap Chair by Fritz Hansen

Nap Chair by Kasper Salto is another example of an affordable chair, this time from Fritz Hansen. Available in white, buttermilk, mocha and graphite.

Milan 2010 - Top Ten Products - Gap Cafe by Swedese

Gap Café by Swedese for being one of the first sofas to allow for soft seating at dining or study height. Ideal for student accommodation or as an alternative to fixed banquet seating.

Milan 2010 - Top Ten Products - Bend Sofa - B&B Italia

Bend Sofa by Patricia Urquiola, designed for B&B Italia as an entry level product, this sofa system is fantastic. Sculptural, comfortable and with contrasting seams the colour combinations are endless.

Milan 2010 - Top Ten Products - Void Lights by Tom Dixon

Void Lights by Tom Dixon in brass, copper or stainless steel.

Technically very clever, aesthetically stunning and affordable too!

Top Ten Products from Milan

Over the next few weeks we'll be drip feeding you with the new products from Milan which are on our Top Ten.  The first is LaClasica Chair by Jesus Gasca for being absolutely beautiful. Available from September from Stua and for around £145 we think this is set to become a best seller. 

Tangram returns from Milan

After 3 days of travelling, the 3 intrepid explorers returned to Tangram. It was actually a very interesting trip home with a visit to the Vitra Design Museum in Germany and Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam to help break up the journey.  Apart from the delay in returning home, the trip to the Milan Furniture Fair was very successful. Look out for our newsletter with all the new products.

Where is Tangram!!

What had started out as the usual annual trip to the Milan furniture fair Salone Internazionale del Mobile has turned into a nightmare journey home for Julian, Sarah and Joanne. They were due to fly home on Saturday but ended up staying another day in Milan then on Sunday starting the journey home to Edinburgh. First it was a train to Basel then the sleeper to Amsterdam where they arrived Monday morning. The next leg of the journey is the ferry on Tuesday evening to Newcastle where they'll then have to make their way home to Edinburgh. Not quite the flying visit to Milan and back they had hoped for, maybe opening a travel agent will be the next project!! There will be wonderful pictures of their travels in due course.

Globe Zero Evening

On Tuesday evening we hosted our launch party for the GlobeZero4 exhibition in the showroom. We had a good attendance of architects and designers who were given a presentation from UK agent Ruth Simpson. Ruth spoke of the designers and told the stories behind the designs of some of the products which was very interesting. We all then spent some time playing musical chairs and trying out all the different pieces. The Plasma benches were a big hit with everyone and were considered to be the most flexible and commercial pieces on show. The GlobeZero4 furniture will remain in the showroom for another three weeks allowing more people to come and try it out!

Quartermile Azurean Q5

We have recently furnished the new 2 bedroomed Azurean Q5 showflat for Quartermile. 

Using a variety of suppliers including a new supplier, Zeitraum, we have created a spectacular space. 

We used Zeitraum for the bed and storage units and I'm sure you'll agree the bookcase in the sitting room is striking. 

The sofas and chairs are from B&B Italia and the unusual light next to the sofa is part of the new Diesel range coming from Foscarini. 

The dining table is from Lammhults and we used another Italian company MDF Italia for the Flow chairs to compliment it.  

Another amazing light is Ingo Maurer's Aikaduli shown in the bedroom.  

This is just a very small sample of the look we can create and with our experienced design staff we are always able to create that special look.

Photo Shoot

Following the redecoration of our showroom we are delighted that Mike Byrne, a photography student at Edinburgh's Napier University, selected it as the backdrop for his assignment to photograph award winning product designer Andy Murray - Andy recently won the 2009 D&AD Student Awards for furniture design with his Sea Defence collection of tables and shelves. Mike commented that having a well designed location makes taking pictures a lot easier and obviously we agree!

Pictures: Mike Byrne © www.faction.co.uk

Tangram Showroom

It's all happening at our showroom at the moment. The furniture is out (it's in the warehouse) and everything is being painted, so none of the staff can stand in one place for too long just incase they get painted as well. We're brightening up the place using Valtti paint and one of walls will be pink. This will certainly be a great canvas for our exciting new collection.

Winchester Holiday Inn

Julian has just spent a busy two days installing all the public area seating for the new Winchester Holiday Inn. From the pictures you can see a team of men helped!!

Tangram advised on the specification for furniture in the public areas. We supplied the restaurant seating, sofas and chairs in the reception and stools and easy chairs in the bar/breakout area. (Andreu World and Sancal) The Spira conference chairs are from Lammhults. These pictures show work in progress and the hotel opens to the public on 16th March - a great location next to the M3.

Happy New Year

We would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and hope you've all managed to settle back into your usual routine after the Christmas break, not to mention the huge snow falls which stopped everyone in their tracks.

The snow won't stop the staff at Skyscanner making their way into the office. Having recently moved offices they'll enjoy being in their new surroundings furnished with desks from Lammhults, chairs from Danerka, lighting from Artemide and wonderful colourful quirky stools from Modus. Having all our wonderful furniture around will certainly make it easier to make the journey to work.