New directions: Equus

There has been a lot of buzz around Linley recently. Acquired by Jamie Edmiston last year, the company has begun to evolve, adapting its image and products to appeal to a wider audience while staying true to the loyal followers of the classic Linley brand. The company’s evolution has also seen the addition of new members to the Linley team, including Polina Parshina (see an interview with her here) and Alex Hull, both previously from Silverlining. SYD went to the Linley showroom during Decorex to see Hull’s first project with Linley, the Equus desk.

Exploring the relationship between the traditional craftsmanship expected of Linley furniture, contemporary design and cutting edge technology, the Equus desk reinterprets the iconic Linley writing desk. The leather-covered desk is extremely contemporary but isn’t as big a step away from the classic pieces we associate with Linley as it first seems. Equus manages to maintain a continuity with the Linley classics by incorporating elements of more traditional designs. “The walnut, for example, is an element from the Linley classic range,” Hull tells us. “It is a material that is used throughout their lines. This desk involves a high level of craftsmanship and is still a distinctive Linley design.”

Unheard of in past Linley pieces though is Equus use of complex composites. “The substrate under the leather is quite interesting,” says Hull. “It’s a single skin lamination of carbon fibre and then a lamination of glass fibre on top of that. But what we’ve done here is create an encapsulated pattern so it’s a kind of medium density, polyurethane foam in the core. So this design has been almost made backwards — we started with the shape and then built on to it, rather than start with a mould and building into it. Like a surfboard.”



According to Hull, the project took six weeks from concept to competition and involved an interesting combination of people, including the team who did the CNC work, the laminators, leatherworkers and traditional cabinetmakers. Ultrathin and extremely stylish, Equus also has an element of playfulness about it, featuring a walnut centre panel that rotates to reveal a secret penholder. “Obviously it is really in minimal form, but I wanted it to have something in there that would be of use,” says Hull. “The rotating penholder is a reference to the secret drawers of the classic Linley pieces.”

“To us this is the direction we are heading it, but it is all about maintaining the craftsmanship,” Polina Parshina told us. “It is all about maintaining the quality in a spectrum of things, whether it is contemporary or classic. It is the same level of craftsmanship you would find in all of our other more classic architectural desks, but it is contemporary design and it’s new materials. You can see that, even with carbon fibre, it is the same kind of craftsmanship. You still have to do so many things by hand.” Parshina tells us that the launch of the desk saw a mixture of loyal Linley collectors and new potential clients gather to see the desk. “The loyal collectors were excited to see something new,” she says. “They really understood that it is the same philosophy with the craftsmanship and the quality, but it’s a new direction and form. And the new clients were excited to see the change in direction towards something very different.”

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"It is the same level of craftsmanship you would find in all of our other more classic architectural desks, but it is contemporary design and it’s new materials"

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It is hard not to notice the similarity between the language used at Linley for this project and that typically used for Silverlining, and many of the materials and techniques have a common source as well. Indeed, David Linley and Mark Boddington of Silverlining both studied under John Makepeace, one of Britain's most important furniture makers and designers, two years a part at Parnham College. How does Linley plan to differentiate itself from Silverlining with this new direction? “I think there are certain things at Linley that Silverlining would never do and there are things at Silverlining that Linley would never do,” says Parshina. “For us it is about going back to the origins of Linley and looking at things like the Linley classics and the architectural models and desks and reinterpreting those elements in a more contemporary way, as opposed to taking something from Silverlining and just forcing it into here.”

This new drive to evolve is having exciting results already and it looks like Linley will continue to take itself into a new age of design. “The other day we went to one of a formula one team's factory to discuss new carbon fibre technology and what we can do with it,” Parshina tells us. “We are also looking more into the outdoor side of furniture, exploring the indoor/outdoor trend.”

To read an interview with Jamie Edmiston, see In Business in Q12. To subscribe to SuperyachtDesign, click here.

Related Links:
Linley - company profile

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