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Design Bugs Out: Meet the Teams

PearsonLloyd and Kirton Healthcare Group

PearsonLloyd

PearsonLloyd is a multi-disciplinary design consultancy based in London. The studio’s work focuses on design for manufacture in the fields of furniture, transport design and the public realm. PearsonLloyd was founded in 1997 by Tom Lloyd and Luke Pearson. Tom and Luke share a combined furniture and product design training, and furniture design lies at the heart of the studio’s practice.

Since its foundation, PearsonLloyd has gained a worldwide reputation for producing modern designs that combine aesthetic clarity with technological innovation. Current projects include a new product for Lufthansa Business Class. Most recently, PearsonLloyd has received Red Dot Awards for the Cobi chair and Lox bar stool. In 2008, Tom and Luke were awarded the distinction of Royal Designers for Industry.

Kirton Healthcare Group

Kirton incorporates the brands Kirton Specialist Seating, Kirton H2O, Endura Contract Furniture and SensoryPlus.

Based on excellence in design, manufacture and service delivery for over 28 years, Kirton has developed a reputation as a quality provider of specialist seating and subsequently extended to the provision of shower/commode chairs, robust contract furniture and multi-sensory environments.

Kirton’s ISO 9001:2008 accreditation assures quality and helps them to fulfil their pledge to provide customer satisfaction. At the same time their ISO 14001 Environmental Management System illustrates their commitment to the environment and sustainable production and development of goods.

Hollington and Herman Miller

Geoff Hollington

After studying industrial design engineering, then completing a postgraduate degree in environmental design at the Royal College of Art, Geoff’s first job was to lead street furniture design at the new city of Milton Keynes. He established his consultancy in 1980, to work on product and systems design with international brands and organisations, including Herman Miller, Kodak and Gillette Group, Parker Pen, NCR and Sony Ericsson. His work on consumer, business and technical products has won international awards and is held in museum collections. Geoff’s approach is research-driven, informed by human behaviour on one hand, and science and technology on the other — for example, he is investigating the impact of digital manufacturing on engineering and design.

In a parallel project, with partners in Barron Gould Hollington, he is currently driving manufacturing innovation, working with Foster+Partners and Philips. Geoff is a retained consultant to the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network. He also writes and lectures extensively.

Herman Miller International

Herman Miller creates great places to work through the design, manufacture and distribution of furnishings, interior products and related services. Through problem-solving research and design, the company seeks to develop innovative solutions to real needs in working, healing, learning and living environments. Operating in more than 100 countries worldwide, the company’s award-winning products and strategic consulting services generated more than £1bn in revenue in 2008.

The company’s international headquarters are in Chippenham, Wiltshire, with UK manufacturing based in Bath. For more information visit www.hermanmiller.co.uk

Kinneir Dufort and Bristol Maid

Kinneir Dufort

Kinneir Dufort are an innovation and design team who have been delivering intelligent design solutions to meet end- user requirements and clients’ business needs for over 30 years, in areas ranging from medical devices to consumer products.

KD’s approach, which is centred on an understanding of user experience, involves a blend of disciplines including: research, human factors, product and packaging design, user interface design, engineering, prototyping and early-stage manufacture.

The 45-strong team continues to grow and evolve, delivering strategic innovation and design consultancy to its broad international client base, complemented by its core design and prototyping expertise.

Bristol Maid (Hospital Metalcraft Ltd.)

Hospital Metalcraft Ltd is a family owned and managed business now in its third generation. With more than 200 permanent employees, it offers an extensive range of Bristol Maid TM medical furniture and equipment, designed and manufactured at its present site in Blandford Forum in Dorset. Over the years it has developed a large portfolio of products including medicine cabinets, trolleys, cot-sides and infusion stands.

With over 50 years of experience, a strong distributor network and a wide customer base including the NHS and private sector and clients in the Republic of Ireland and the Middle East, the Bristol Maid TM brand has become synonymous with quality, durability and reliability.

Minima Design and Vernacare

Minima Design Limited

For almost 20 years Minima Design has worked across a wide spectrum of design disciplines from consumer products to machine design and build.

Minima’s team consists of a mix of designers, engineers and production experts who understand the realities of manufacture on the shop floor. Minima’s full service solution starts with consulting with clients to identify real commercial opportunities, then through creative workshops and research, designing products that stretch the goals and create patentable solutions.

Their in-house prototyping facilities include tool making and injection moulding, enabling them to evaluate designs properly and manage the risk of development. Minima have a network of suppliers around the globe to deliver products, and they often work with manufacturers on build and quality manuals to ensure clients get the product they need.

Vernacare

For over 40 years Vernacare has specialised in the manufacture and supply of products to hospitals which reduce the risk of cross infection. More recently Vernacare has expanded its range of infection control products to include super absorbent gel, cleaning and disinfection wipes, patient cleansing foams and wipes and the Vernachair commode, shower and sani chair, designed to be easy to clean and versatile, allowing easy patient use and comfort.

RCA

Sally Halls

Sally Halls developed an interest in medical design at the Royal College of Art, while working on her award winning graduation project on incubators. She now works at the Helen Hamlyn Centre where her portfolio includes product, service and communication design as well as the development of design strategy in the health sector. She was part of a team that redesigned a resuscitation trolley, which went on to receive two prestigious Medical Futures Innovation Awards. She has since worked with the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) to produce industry-wide guidelines on the design of injectable medicines, and the design of infusion devices.

Grace Davey

Grace Davey trained in engineering at Bristol University, and then industrial design at the Royal College of Art, where she received a bursary from the Royal Commission of 1851 given to UK emerging talent. Her interests look at how the design of services and products can make a critical difference and she has developed people centered techniques to enable this. Awards include Imperial Young Innovator of the Year and finalist in the Imperial College New Business Challenge. A central focus of her work is design within the healthcare sector.