E-Interiors.net

Chris Howker

Chris Howker

About

I have been working as a product and furniture designer, and involved in interior design, since graduating with an MA from the Royal College of Art, London.

Resume

Chris Howker Furniture, Product and Interior Designer

Curriculum Vitae to July 2002


Professional Qualifications

1997
MA RCA, Master of Arts Degree: Furniture Design
Royal College of Art

1995
BA Honours Degree - First Class: Furniture and Product Design
Kingston University

1992
National Council for Foundation Education in Art and Design National Diploma - Distinction
East Surrey College - Reigate School of Art and Design

1985
City and Guilds of London Institute Certificate for Welding Craft - Two Distinctions, One Credit
Kingston College of Further Education

1984
City and Guilds of London Institute Certificate for Forgework
Rural Development Commission (Formerly Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas), Salisbury

Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths Certificate of Merit - First Prize


Professional Experience

August 2001 to present
Freelance furniture and product designer
Producing design proposals for items such as chairs, tables, waiting area seating systems, domestic sofa systems and table-ware for manufacturers.


November 2000 to July 2001
Furniture / interior designer: United Designers, London

Designed loose and fitted furniture package for new headquarters of United Designers.
Furniture package included: desking, meeting tables, free standing cabinets and fitted cabinets. Responsibilities included: surveying working and storage requirements for new office, development of furniture layout, formulation of functional and visual brief for all furniture, concept design, detailed design, prototyping and liasing with manufacturers. Work involved creating schedules for obtaining quotes from manufacturers, sketch designing, design presentation, model making, obtaining sample details and finishes, production of furniture plans on architectural drawings, production of computer drawings and hand drawn details for all furniture, liasing with manufacturers regarding production issues, reviewing prototypes made by manufacturers, coordinating finishing of all interior surfaces including furniture, floors and walls.

Developed concept interiors and furniture for ‘No 1' Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland.
Responsible for development of concept guest-room and bathroom layouts and their furniture for presentation to client. Work included carrying out feasibility studies into implications of various concepts according to criteria such as quantity of rooms required versus maximising sense of space and comfort, producing architectural plans relating to feasibility studies, producing three dimensional hand drawn sketches of feasible concepts for presentation to client, identifying required furniture types, developing functional and visual requirements for rooms and their furniture, producing concept design sketches and computer drawings of furniture, producing detailed computer plan and elevation drawings of viable room concepts for presentation to client.


February 1998 to October 2000
Furniture / industrial designer and interior designer: David Chipperfield Architects, London.

Designed furniture and bathroom items for two hotels in USA: ‘Shore Club', Miami and ‘Bryant Park', New York.
Responsible for all stages of design from concept to manufacture.
Items designed and their manufacturers included:

Furniture for guest-rooms and public spaces: chairs, sofas, cabinets, beds, tables, sun loungers - B&B Italia Contract, Italy.
Bathroom brassware: range of taps, spouts and shower controls - Czech & Speake, London.
Ceramic washbasin - Ideal Standard, Italy.

Responsibilities included: development of furniture layouts for guest-rooms and public spaces, formulation of functional and visual brief for all designed items, concept design, detailed design, prototyping and liasing with manufacturers. Work involved creating schedules and specification sheets, sketch designing, design presentations, model making, obtaining sample details and finishes, production of furniture plans on architectural drawings, production of computer drawings and hand drawn details for all furniture, liasing with manufacturers regarding production issues, reviewing prototypes made by manufacturers, coordinating finishing of all designed items in relation to architectural design intent, reviewing furniture collection in mock-up rooms in hotels.

Worked within hotel architectural team on development of concepts for interior / exterior schemes for lobbies, bars, restaurants, guestrooms and outdoor areas.
Made creative contribution within team responsible for developing functional and visual requirements of interior spaces and outdoor areas. Work involved visual research through images and material samples, input into creative brainstorming meetings, developing visual concepts for interior and exterior schemes through sketches, computer drawings and models, preparation of presentation material to client.

Production of detailed computer drawings and details for interior fit out of hotels.
Aided architectural team with production of design information for construction of bars and restaurants in hotels.

Industrial design for mass production.
Responsible for all stages of design from concept to manufacture.
Items designed and their manufacturers included:

Commercial range of bathroom brassware (taps, spouts and shower controls), ceramic ware (washbasins and toilets) and cubicle partitioning system - Ideal Standard, UK.
‘Airframe' range of furniture (seating and storage cabinets) - Cassina Inter Décor, Japan.
‘HM991' & ‘HM992' (ranges of upholstered furniture) - Hitch Mylius, UK.

Responsibilities included liasing with manufacturers, presenting designs to manufacturers, research and analysis of competitors products, research into technical parameters, formulating functional and visual briefs, production of concept sketches, models and computer drawings, production of images and text for presentations to clients, overseeing of prototyping with manufacturers.

Manager of furniture and textiles library.
Built up an extensive library of furniture catalogues and textiles samples up to date to be used by studio. Liased with company representatives, and researched at trade fairs such as Salone del Mobile, Milan, each year. Created computer database of companies.


October 1997 to January 1998
Consultant designer for large UK / USA based hair salon company:‘Toni & Guy'.
Developed corporate identity of interiors for new brand of salons called ‘Essensuals' aimed at different market segment from existing Toni & Guy salons. Worked closely with graphic design company responsible for corporate identity of ‘Toni & Guy'.
Responsibilities included presenting concept sketches and computer drawings of interior concepts. Presenting materials and finishes to be used in interiors, working with graphic design company on graphic issues relating to the salons.


1996
Designed stacking wooden chair for Royal Court Theatre bar and restaurant, London.
Commissioned by theatre to design a wooden stacking chair for the theatre bar and restaurant. Work involved formulating the functional and visual brief with the client, production of full size visual prototype and drawings of final design for presentation to client.


1996
Designed coffee bar for Royal College of Art: R CAFÉ.
Commissioned by college student union to design the coffee bar as a result of winning design competition. Worked with two fellow students on project.
Work involved developing functional and visual brief with client, designing all aspects of interior including furniture and lighting, floor and surface finishes, electrical installation, serving area and kitchen, student facilities such as lounge area, dining area and pool area. Various custom designed pieces of furniture were made for the bar including low concrete tables, upholstery and lighting.
Design subsequently won ‘Restaurants' category of 1997 Design Week Awards.


1995
Worked with Danny Lane - London based glass and metal sculptor.
Work involved overseeing production of large-scale cast iron sculptures in a UK iron foundry for Buddhist centre, Tokyo.
Made metal pieces of furniture in workshop, and designed and produced welding jigs for subsequent batch productions.


1987 - 1991
Worked as volunteer in Indonesia through UK organisation: VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas).
Designed and established blacksmith training programme and related facilities at Yayasan Alfa Omega - an Indonesian community development organisation on island of Timor. Work involved design and construction of workshop and its facilities, and running tool making / repairing courses for village recruits. Attended three-month residential language course in Yogyakarta, Central Java prior to going to Timor. Subsequently became fluent in Indonesian language.


1982 - 1987
Worked and trained at two blacksmithing / architectural metalwork companies: C. Pillow & Son Ltd (place of apprenticeship) and S. Burvill and Son Ltd.
Work included making and renovating traditional forged architectural metalwork, such as gates, railings and staircases.



Computer Skills
2D & 3D CAD: Microstation, Autocad and Maya
Word Processing: Word
Spread Sheet: Excel
Data Base: Microsoft Access & Claris Works
Image Manipulation: Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator