Research 2 - Ralph Capper

Ralph Capper are a company that work with other businesses in order to design furniture around their individual needs. We met Ben, Ralph's son, that explained what the business does and how different qualities of furniture affect where they could be used - whether at home or in a business environment. He explained that furniture that comes from IKEA would be better suited to a home environment rather than an office due to the amount of use it would get - it would not be sustainable within an office and being heavily used. 

After visiting the showroom, I have gained an insight into other businesses that operate within the interior market. There were catalogues featuring Modus, Muuto, FritzHansen, Kvadrat and Camira Fabrics, all companies that are new to me. I was particularly interested in the Kvadrat and FritzHansen sample books because I feel the techniques used would be  suitable for my current work for 57 Spring Gardens - the group have discussed a geometric approach to the project. We plan to order appropriate samples online so we have something to suggest to Bruntwood when we do the interim presentation for them. We could also use these samples to inform our own designs.

Because the flooring and wall coverings are probably going to be hard finishes, we discussed having some sort of sound-proofing acoustic finishes as artwork or within the furniture. Myself and Jenny have been given the task of designing the furniture so we will consider acoustics when thinking about fabrics. We could use flock onto our designs to act as a sound controlling feature if we did decide to run with this idea. 

I enjoyed viewing how other designers compose their samples - they use a diverse range of techniques and fabrics that I haven't necessarily seen before which I could now incorporate into my own work for interior clients. 

 The seating in the showroom had a contemporary feel to it, creating a secluded meeting space. However, I feel that the backrest would be too high up for the reception area (above left), and the client would benefit from a lower back so that they can identify people sitting in the reception area if they need to meet them. I think a chair similar to the mustard one above would be more suitable as it allows slight seclusion, but allows people to identify the person sat in it, for example if they have come to meet someone from the offices above. I will consider this with Jenny when designing furniture for Bruntwood.