The British designer transformed his country's post-war modern design alongside his wife Lucienne, specialised in abstract and colourful textile creation. He aimed to conceive innovative, functional, affordable and sustainable furniture favoured by the use of moulded plywood, and tubular steel. In 1963, he invented the first moulded polypropylene chair that has become a legendary piece and is still highly popular and a pioneer in questioning sustainability, Robin Day once declared, 'architects and designers have, I think, a fair responsibility for conserving energy and materials, and making things durable.' Tags / British Designer - Robin Day - Polypropylene - Industrial Design - Functional - 1950s + Add to my Red List Rocking Bird Childpsly Chair Share this picture on Use your arrow keys to navigate between images and lots.The Hille furniture company was started in the East End of London by Salamon Hille, a Russian emigrant, in 1906. Originally a restorer of furniture, the initial output were reproductions of classic styles.

Salamon's daughter, Ray, subsequently joined; she worked with the company to produce furniture to original designs. where to buy disposable chair coversIn 1932, Salamon retired and Ray took over the reigns of the business, continuing to produce spectacular designs in the contemporary style, and becoming a classic designer of the 20th century. mesh office chair cleanHer husband, Mossey, assisted her with sales and administration. beach chair rental business for salePieces designed by Ray, and produced by her company, continue to attract interest from purchasers at specialist dealers and auctions, despite changes in fashion.dental chair online purchase

The second world war brought tragedy for the Ray Hille: Her father, Salamon, died in August 1940, and this was followed by bomb damage to the family home, factory and stores. cheap bean bag chair stuffingIn 1945 the business moved to Lea Bridge Road, Leytonstone, and then to a new factory in Hainault in 1950. table and chairs west elmDespite winning the contract for furnishing the Royal Festival Hall, post-war shortages of the basic production materials, and a reduced market for highly-crafted expensive furniture, led to financial difficulties, causing the sale of the Hailnault premises, and the next move, to Watford.throne chairs to buy uk The company recovered, and under Ray Hille's leadership, Hille soon became one of the British companies at the cutting edge of both new design and production methods, although the reproduction pieces continued to be manufactured, primarily for the export market. buy accent chairs canada

The company continued to be family-run, with Ray Hille and her son-in-law, Leslie Julius, as joint chairmen, and her daughter, Rosamind Julius, as sales director. bean bag chair made in canadaIt was Leslie Julius, in 1949, who made contact with designer Robin Day, who along with Clive Latimer, had won first prize in the storage section of the International Competition For Low-Cost Furniture, organised by the New York Museum of Modern Art, that year. Robin Day, at that time, was a freelance designer, who was at the beginning of his chosen career path, his progress having been delayed by the war. He joined Hille, but remained a freelance designer, and continued to work with the company for many years, becoming a design consultant. Day's potential must have been evident to Leslie Julius, and it was the foresight and support for this talented designer, with his use of innovative materials, that propelled the company's profile.

The production of lightweight inexpensive well-built furniture found a ready market in the post-war years and beyond. From the beginning of Day's relationship with Hille emerged the Hillstack chair, in 1950, a design classic, featuring a simple beech wood frame and bent plywood seat. It was during this forward-looking period of the early 1950s, that the Hille company purchased the Wells Brewery site on St Albans Road. The purchase, from Benskins Brewery in October 1952, included the Wells Brewery site and some vacated cottages. Soon afterwards a single story concrete frame factory was built on unused land along the north boundary behind the terraced houses in Brixton road. This building remains in use today. It was later, in 1959, that the cottages along St Albans Road were demolished to make room for the construction of Hille House. The modernity of Ernö Goldfinger's building must certainly have fitted well with the impression that the company wanted to create for its headquarters and showroom.

Cherrill Scheer, another of Ray Hille's daughters, joined in 1961, and progressed the company's interest in modern design and the development of new products. At the rear of the site, a two storey factory was constructed in 1962. This has car parking at ground level, under the first floor of the building. It is believed that this is one of the last elevated factory buildings to constructed in the United Kingdom. This building, also designed by Ernö Goldfinger, is similar to the front office (Hille House). As needs and usage of the building changed, it has been modified with a new pitched roof, cladding on the front elevation, and a reconstructed entrance permitting better access to the first and second floors. The biggest seller, in terms of volumes, for the Hille company is another of Robin Day's designs. Introduced in 1963, the Polychair and its variants, have probably been used by everybody in schools or other public buildings, with very few considering that it is a design classic.

With their strong tubular steel frame, and the light, flexible, heat-resistant and hard-wearing polypropylene seat, these chairs have numerous advantages over alternative materials, and successfully last for well over ten years, shrugging off the abuse they receive, in the environments where they end up being placed. It is estimated that 14 million of these stackable chairs have been sold worldwide; production still continues today under licence, at a rate of around 500,000 per year. While Robin Day had the highest profile of the well-known Hille designers, and his work continues to be sold today, the contributions of Frederick Scott, who joined the company in 1969 shouldn't be overlooked. It was Scott who continued to experiment with novel materials and specialised in adjustable office furniture, leading to the successful Supporto office chair range. Scott's study of ergonomics, led to him and Hille becoming involved in the development of design improvements to wheelchairs for the disabled.

Roger Dean, another designer who worked with Hille, is considered by some being the father of the bean bag. While his design for the Sea Urchin chair allows it to mould to the form of the person being carried, the construction is of foam sections, so quite different to the fluid nature of the polystyrene beads within a cloth bag. It was the Sea Urchin design that introduced him to Hille, and led to the commission to furnish the interior of the newly-expanded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, in London. Roger Dean is now best known for his landscape artwork, which has featured on the album covers of progressive rock bands, such as Yes, and more recently on software and videogame packaging. Aspects of furniture design, naming and sale that would be recognisable to shoppers in IKEA today had been covered by Hille in the 1960s: Design magazine contains an article that features the Kompas 1 occasional table, designed by Alan Turville of Hille. This circular table has its base and top made from resin-bonded bagasse;