Heal's Discovers, Tottenham Court Road

10th anniversary of Heal’s discovers

The new Heal’s Discovers collection brings us another round of exciting emerging design talent whose work, if you didn’t have time to see it at the London Design Festival, is now available at Heal’s Tottenham Court Road store. This year the five handpicked graduates have been mentored by the Heal’s product and design team to create their own individual debut showcases, each with a unique take on the theme of contemporary craftsmanship. Culture Whisper breaks down these five new designers and what makes them special.

Rickard stool by Philip Luscombe and Josh South

Luscombe and South became friends at Northumbria University where they were both studying Three Dimensional Design: Furniture and Product. Now the pair have their own design studio and present their first fully realised collaboration, The Rickard Stool. This fumed oak piece is both multi-functional and looks marvellous, with an attractive finish that will gain character overtime. The Rickard is carefully designed for comfort, with a gentle curve to guide you into place. This duo are all about discovery through making, learning far more from their prototypes then a series of sketches.

Sand cast stool by Sam Lloyd

Lloyd has made a name for himself already. After graduating from Kingston University, he’s been featured on several New Designers lists and presents in this collection a new low stool and bar stool for Heal’s. The stools are each entirely unique, leaving the marks of manufacture and the texture of the surface untouched. They are also remarkably comfortable with a trio of fumed oak legs that are effortlessly screwed into place.

Turn collection by Ester Comunello

Ester Comunello brings a touch of Brazil to her designs which focus upon how we use our hands to grab things. Growing up in rural Brazil around her family’s woodcarving workshop, Communello’s collection is simple and intuitively assembled, centring on the ideas of dexterity and craft.

Maya Concrete side table by Tom Parfitt

Parfitt began his career as an apprentice cabinet maker at Benchmark, the British furniture brand and manufacturer of the Heal’s Cranborne range, before studying Furniture: Design & Make in Oxford. His side table is inspired by the way in which Soviet modernist architecture combined structural elements with decoration. Starting with the basic form of the triangle, Parfitt developed the proportions and scale of the shape to create a table with immediate visual impact as well as physicality.