When it came to making a visual impact at the London Transport Museum, both Avery Associates Architects and Denner Ellis Boddington (DEB) Architects turned to Younique by Formica Group.
The results of this successful collaboration are on display for all to see in both the visitors’ washroom area and on cupboard doors in cloakroom.
Alongside the eye-catching interior design is furniture designer Anthony Hartley’s innovative Cable Collection. Created exclusively for the London Transport Museum to celebrate London Underground’s 150th Anniverary, this furniture also showcases the versatility of Formica Group’s Younique® customised laminate service.
The Younique service has enabled both sets of designers to draw on the historic references and iconic images associated with London transport, and the opportunity to create a completely individual look, realised in Formica laminate.
The London Transport Museum tells the story of London and its transport system over the past 200 years. A hugely popular visitor attraction, the Museum, located in Convent Garden in the heart of London’s West End, is both an educational and heritage preservation charity.
Following a £22.4m refurbishment, remodelling and refit of the Museum, Avery Associates Architects and Denner Ellis Boddington Architects were retained to assist in the final stages of this project.
Strengthened by the London Underground’s 150th Anniversary celebrations held in the Museum in 2013, the Museum has been attracting more visitors than ever. The architects needed therefore to ensure that all the high traffic areas such as the visitors’ washrooms and cloakrooms could cope with the increased demand and specify for the interior products that were functional, durable, and aesthetically pleasing.
Initially the architects contacted Formica Group to help create a bespoke laminate for use in the washroom area; here the Younique service was used to digitally replicate the iconic moquette fabric. This fabric has been used to cover seats on London buses and underground trains since 1930s, and is instantly recognisable. The ability to print the designs onto laminate for Integrated Panel Systems (IPS) and cubicle doors at the Museum offers visitors a fun and intriguing reference point in these spaces.
James Dawson, European Custom Laminate Manager, Formica Group, said: “We were first approached to recreate several moquette patterns for the washroom cubicles. Working directly with the DEB Architects, we came up with the idea of applying the patterns in the form of jigsaw puzzle pieces onto the cubicle doors. This creates an eye-catching abstract effect and the same moquette design on laminate is then used on the back panel in each cubicle.”
“The initial collaboration was very successful. As a result, the architects came back to us to assist with further work on this project. Next we were asked to replicate simple, colourful images of famous London modes of transport, such as the black cab and the Routemaster bus. For this we used silk-screen printing for the laminate design. These now provide a look that is full of impact for the storage facilities in the Museum’s cloakroom area.”
For both interior and exterior applications, the Younique service can incorporate any design, image, pattern, as well as corporate branding and logos, replicated onto Formica laminate to offer an invidual and long-lasting surfacing solution.
Formica High Pressure Laminate (HPL) and Formica Compact are used throughout the London Transport Museum and offer resistance to humidity, impact and ease of maintenance, essential in the washroom environment, and the inherent strength of the material makes it ideal to use for cubicles and lockers.
Further demonstrating the endless possibilities of the Younique service are Anthony Hartley’s Tube Map Chair, Stool and Bench from his Cable Collection, designed exclusively for the London Transport Museum to celebrate London Underground’s 150th Anniversary.
For these Hartley has abstracted the Earl’s Court, Baker Street, Bank and Euston junction areas from the London Underground map, and using the Younique service, interpreted them laminate, to create exclusive furniture pieces.
Anthony Hartley commented: “I wanted to use the abstraction of the massively expanded colours and shapes in the tube map to create a random effect that is somehow familiar, and eventually becomes obvious in the context of the London Transport Museum. Using Younique was the only way to create the image we wanted in the finish we needed. Recreating the exact colours of the tube map was important to our client and the integrity of the pieces and we have achieved this.”
For furniture making, Formica laminate is an ideal choice. Durable, easy to clean, and resistant to impact, heat and scratches, it keeps its looks and requires minimal maintenance.
Anthony Hartley brings an innovative approach to flatpack furniture, using multi-coloured cable ties to secure the templates which can be easily assembled without tools. The cable ties can be easily cut, encouraging people to engage with colour and design by choosing different colour combinations of legs, seats, table tops and chair backs.
The Younique by Formica Group customised laminate service has a dedicated team, offering an in depth knowledge of HPL as well as project support from concept through to production and delivery.
Formica Group is also the only manufacturer that produces both digital and silk-screen customised prints on a true made-to-order basis, providing architects, designers and specifiers with flexibility of service and limitless options for both interior and exterior applications.