Tom Lloyd and Luke Pearson co-founded the hugely influential design studio, Pearson Lloyd, in 1997. Since then, it has gone on to work in areas such as the workplace, transport and health care, with organisations like Virgin, Lufthansa, the Department for Health, and furniture giant Senator. 

The practice is the Designer of the Year at the Material Matters 2023 fair and will be using the space at Bargehouse to investigate how its use of materials has been transformed over recent years, including projects with clients such as Modus, Batch.Works, Howe, Flokk, Profim and Camira. 

In this episode we talk about: controversially criticising Arne Jacobsen’s classic Egg chair; their installation at Material Matters 2023; marrying craft and industry; how their material perspective has changed; balancing environmental, social and economic needs; why they’re still using plastic; building out obsolescence; the aesthetics of circularity; bringing contemporary workplace theory to schools; the importance of visible fixings, durability and repair; working with the aviation industry; the problem with paint; meeting at the Royal College of Art; being drawn into the furniture industry; celebrating their differences; and fearing boredom. 

Our thanks go to the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.uk 

And to register for the Material Matters fair, which runs from 20-23 September at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf go to: 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2023-tickets-591491014547

PS apologies for my slightly ham-fisted Monty Python analogy…