Each year the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York invites the industry’s top editors to scour the floor of the Javits Exhibition Center and chose the best of the best of the year’s design crop over sixteen categories including body of work, new designer, craftsmanship, furniture, seating, carpet & flooring, lighting, outdoor furniture, materials, wall covering, accessories, textiles and school.  We’re delighted that in our first year of exhibiting at the show, ercol have been given the award in the Furniture category.  You can see the full list of winners here.

The ICFF Editors Awards Committee comprised Arlene Hirst, Rita Catinella Orrell, Architectural Record, SNAP, Elizabeth Pagliacolo, Azure, Amanda Dameron, Dwell, Robert Thiemann, Frame, Annie Block, Interior Design, Gilda Bojardi, Interni, Chantal Hamaide, Intramuros, Paul Makovsky, Metropolis, Dan Rubinstein, Surface.  Our thanks to all the judges for picking ercol for best in the Furniture category.

Harris + Hoole are a relatively recent entry onto the High Street coffee shop scene, with a number of outlets in the South East.  However, with minority backing from Tesco they look set to become a major force in this market.   The company was founded by three siblings – Nick, Andrew and Laura Tolley.  Their aim was to bring great tasting speciality coffee to the High Street, following the success of their eight Taylor St.  Baristas shops across London and Brighton.

The Uxbridge Harris + Hoole is situated in the wonderful old Market House in the middle of town and integrates modern and old with its combination of the floor to ceiling windows, coffered ceilings and imposing white columns.

ercol were delighted to have our furniture featured through Path Design, with our recently introduced bar stool providing the seating along those large picture windows and ercol quaker chairs providing seating at the tables.

But why that name, Harris + Hoole – it comes from the names of two gentlemen mentioned in the diary of Samuel Pepys’ in 1664 during a visit to a coffee shop:

“Feb. 3d, 1664. In Covent Garden to-night, going to fetch home my wife, I stopped at the great Coffee-house there, where I never was before: Where Dryden the poet (I knew at Cambridge), and all the wits of the town, and Harris the player, and Mr Hoole of our College. And had I had time then, or could at other times, it will be good coming thither, for there, I perceive, is very witty and pleasant discourse. But I could not tarry, and as it was late, they were all ready to go away.“

Fifth Avenue fashion store Bergdorf Goodman is running a set of special window displays to coincide with the International Contemporary Furniture Fare in New York and we’re delighted they have chosen the ercol studio couch in blotch fabric by Timorous Beasties for one of the feature windows.  ICFF organisers commented: “Bergdorf Goodman puts the ICFF and design, front and centre in its 57th Street windows for the run of the show.  This year, the grand emporium with the most glamorous windows in the world brings the ICFF to the heart of midtown – and the centre of the retail world – once again.  Watch out 57th Street, the ICFF is back and the ICFF exhibitor products in Bergdorf Goodman’s windows gives the long-loved pastime of window shopping an inventive, eye-catching twist.”

ercol’s studio couch has been dressed in the eye-popping “blotch” fabric from Glasgow based design studio Timorous Beasties.  It is one of several special edition versions of our studio couch making its way to New York – you can read more about them in our blog article here.   ercol will be exhibiting a range of products – both old favourites from our Originals collection and contemporary new pieces from our Svelto collection at ICFF from Saturday May 18th to Sunday May 20th.  You can find us at booth 1648 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on 11th Avenue at 38th Street.

We’re delighted that ercol’s Holland Park chairs are amongst a small number of designs awarded the Design Guild Mark this year.  Administered by the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, the Design Guild Mark “rewards excellence in the design of furniture for volume production.  It marks and rewards work of the finest designers working in Britain” says Jonathan Hindle , Chairman of the Design Guild Mark.  Designs are submitted for assessment against a number of criteria and are judged by a prestigious panel of experts.

The Holland Park chair was designed for ercol by Russell Pinch and was launched only last year.  It has already featured in a number of restaurants, including the Perkin Reveller at The Tower of London and River Cottage Canteen, Bristol – the latest of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s restaurants.

After graduating from Ravensbourne College of Design, Russell worked for Sir Terence Conran, becoming Senior Product Designer for the Conran Group, where he developed a wide range of products for Conran restaurants and shops.  Later Russell co-founded The Nest, a multi-disciplinary brand design agency, before in 2004 returning to furniture design.

ercol’s newest bedroom range, Devon, has been designed by us exclusively for The White Company.  It has been skillfully crafted using oak and birch to offer contemporary style to the modern home.  The exteriors of the cabinets are painted in a soft white whilst the interiors remain in natural birch, allowing the beauty of the wood to shine through.  The solid oak legs, handles and oak spindles on the bedstead are synonymous with ercol design providing a striking contrast to the soft white to create beautiful bedroom and occasional furniture.

As well as good looks this furniture is extremely practical, providing lots of storage, whilst the beds, available in double, king and super-king,  feature pre-sprung wooden slats for added comfort.

The White Company was founded in 1993 by Chrissie Rucker.  She observed that the white pieces she wanted were either very cheap but poor quality or expensive designer labels.  So she founded The White Company to provide stylish, white, designer-quality items for the home  at an affordable price.  This has proved very popular and The White Company has now grown to 43 stores in the UK.  As well as the Devon range, The White Company offer ercol Originals in clear or white finishes.

The new Devon range is available now on The White Company’s website and will be available in-store from early May 2013.

Spring may be taking its time arriving this year, but our Spring promotions are bringing a little sunshine to your nearest ercol stockist.  We’ve some great deals on three of our dining ranges offering you a wide choice of styles at great prices, from our painted pinto dining room with its casual kitchen-diner look, our bosco dining with its distinctive joint detailing to our torino range with its traditional country styling.  Once you’re fed you can relax on our riva sofas and armchairs – the latest addition to our upholstery range is even better value in our Spring promotion.  And then to bed, with extra luxury – a pinto or bosco kingsize bed for the price of a double.

Promotions are available in participating stockists and run until 29th May 2013.  Terms and conditions apply – ask in store for details.

ercol has revealed its new svelto range at the International Furniture Fair in Milan this week. The svelto cabinet and occasionals range is crafted out of solid oak at ercol’s Buckinghamshire factory. These pieces combine contemporary styling with ercol’s typical functionality and exceptional quality. Also shown was the new svelto large sofa, part of a new upholstery range.

The svelto sideboard is made from an oak carcass with contrasting walnut sliding reveal doors – the flexible arrangement of sliding doors allows choice of closed and open spaces.  The graphite grey cast iron legs provide a touch of the urban.  The svelto coffee and lamp tables feature circular table tops and shelves, with a simple adornment in the form of a circumference groove.  The shelves are offset to give an asymmetrical look to the pieces.  The svelto tall shelving piece has five circular shelves with the same circumference motif.

The svelto range will also include a full upholstery group.  The large sofa was shown at Milan.  The upholstery has been designed for ercol by British designer Ian Archer, whose passion and specialisation is in upholstery design.  The sofa has crisp, clean lines, with subtle detailing provided in the wooden legs and buttoning on the back cushion.  For the show we dressed the sofa in Bute Fabrics’ “passion red”.  Bute design and create wonderful fabrics in wool in a great range of patterns and colours.

Every May we invite our retailers to the ercol showroom in Princes Risborough to see our new furniture ranges for launch the following Autumn.  That means we need to make space in our showroom and so the Ercol Factory Outlet Showroom Clearance Sale commences 5th April at 9am.  It will run until Saturday 20th April, or until stocks run out.  All items are either ex-display, seconds or discontinued ranges and are sold as seen.  So hurry along to the Ercol Factory Outlet to pick up some bargains.

Open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9:30 am to 4pm Saturday.  The showroom is closed on Sundays.