Thomas Heatherwick doesn’t drink coffee. And as for coffee tables, well, he thinks they’re a bit naff. But that didn’t stop one he designed, simply entitled Plank – which emerged from a brief during his MA at the Royal College of Art (RCA) – being included in the Design Council’s Great Expectations international touring exhibition, as an example of innovative British design.
‘I suppose that was my departure gate in furniture, given a brief to make a coffee table!’ admits Heatherwick, who has gone on to design city squares, bridges, a Buddhist temple and the largest outdoor sculpture in the UK. Oh… and handbags, too. But we can’t talk about that yet – although the 32-year old designer reveals they are for ‘a French manufacturer’.