Robert Heritage

Robert, or Bob, as he was widely known, trained at the Birmingham College of Art from 1942 through to 1946 before going on to the Royal College of Art where he trained under the direction of Professor R D Russell RDI in the School of Wood, Metals and Plastics. It was also here where he met his wife Dorothy, a textile designer.

After leaving the College he eventually went on to set up his design practice with Dorothy and began to work as a consultant to many of the leading British, high quality, modern furniture manufacturers of the day, notably Archie Shine, Beaver & Tapley, Gordon Russell and Heals, mainly designing domestic living and dining room furniture.

His work for Beaver and Tapley included a very successful range of wall hung storage units. The Tapley SL group had a unique selling feature - each unit was supplied with a wall fixing batten with an integral spirit level! In 1967 Bob was commissioned by Cunard to design a dining chair for the QE2.

The innovative design he conceived employed new technology in the use of adhesives in the bonding together of aluminium castings. The chair was made by the Ernest Race Company. He was also well respected for his work as a product designer, which included lighting for Concord Lighting, Rotaflex, GEC and Technolyte, cutlery for Yote and clocks for Smiths Industry.

The timeless designs from Robert Heritage remain classics of the period. A highly talented and modest man, he was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 1963, and some years later he was appointed Professor of the School of Furniture at the Royal College of Art - 1974 - 1985 He received the CBE in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a Designer and for his work for British Industry for over 50 years.

Adapted from a letter by Ray Leigh - Former Chairman, Gordon Russell Ltd