Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer

Thomas Heatherwick Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of around 200 architects, designers and makers from a studio and workshop in ...

said that Conran "moved Britain forward to make it an influence around the world." Edward Barber, from the British design team

Barber & Osgerby Barber Osgerby is a London-based industrial design studio founded in 1996 by British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. Historically named variously Barber Osgerby Associates, BOA, Barber & Osgerby and BarberOsgerby, the practice has been ...

, described Conran as "the most passionate man in Britain when it comes to design, and his central idea has always been 'Design is there to improve your life.'" The satirist Craig Brown once joked that before Conran "there were no chairs and no France."

Early life and education

Conran was born in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

, the son of Christina Mabel Joan Conran (née Halstead, d.1968) and South African-born Gerard Rupert Conran (d.1986), a businessman who owned a rubber importation company in East London. Conran was educated at Highfield School in

Liphook Liphook is a large village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) west of Haslemere, bypassed by the A3 road, and lies on the Hampshire/West Sussex/Surrey borders. It is in the civil parish of Bramsh ...

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928. ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

and the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and ...

(now incorporated into Central St Martin's, a part of the

University of the Arts, London University of the Arts London is a collegiate university in London, England, specialising in arts, design, fashion and the performing arts. It is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea Col ...

), where he studied

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s and other materials.

Work

Conran's first professional work came when he worked in the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

(1951) on the main South Bank site. He left college to take up a job with

Dennis Lennon John Dennis Lennon (23 June 1918 – 16 April 1991) was a British architect, interior designer, and furniture designer. He was responsible for the interior design of the ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' and of 190-192 Sloane Street, London. Lennon worked f ...

's architectural company, which had been commissioned to make a 1/4-scale interior of a Princess Flying Boat. Conran started his own design practice in 1956 with the Summa furniture range and designing a shop for

Mary Quant Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...

. In 1964, he opened the first

Habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

shop in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

with his third wife Caroline Herbert, focusing on housewares and furniture in contemporary designs. Habitat grew into a large chain, the first retailer to bring such designs to a mass audience. In the mid-1980s, Conran expanded Habitat into the

Storehouse plc Storehouse plc, traded as Storehouse, was a large UK retail business formed by Terence Conran through the merger of various high street chains. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index before ...

group of companies that included BhS,

Mothercare Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to eight years of age. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap In ...

and

Heal's Heal's ("Heal and Son Ltd") is a British furniture retail company comprising seven stores, selling a range of furniture, lighting and home accessories. For over two centuries, it has been known for promoting modern design and employing t ...

but in 1990 he lost control of the company. The Conran Shop Fukuoka 2

His later retail companies included the Conran Shop and FSC-certified (

Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council A. C. (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. It is an example of a market-ba ...

) wood furniture maker Benchmark Furniture, which he co-founded with Sean Sutcliffe in 1983. He was also involved in architecture and interior design, including establishing the architecture and planning consultancy Conran Roche with Fred Roche in 1980. Their projects include

Michelin House Michelin House at 81 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London, was constructed as the first permanent UK headquarters and tyre depot for the Michelin Tyre Company Ltd. The building opened for business on 20 January 1911. In 1987 the building was converted t ...

(which he turned into the restaurant Bibendum) and the

Bluebird Garage Bluebird Chelsea, at 330–350 King's Road, Chelsea, London, is a Grade II-listed building that is now a noted D&D London restaurant and café, but which had its origins as a noted Art Deco garage complex built for the Bluebird Motor Company, w ...

, both in Chelsea. Conran had a major role in the regeneration in the early 1990s of the

Shad Thames Shad Thames is a historic riverside street next to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey, London, England, and is also an informal name for the surrounding area. In the 19th century, the area included the largest warehouse complex in London. Location Th ...

area of London next to

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

that includes the Design Museum. His business, Conran and Partners, is a design company comprising product, brand and interior designers and architects, working on projects all over the world. Conran designed furniture for

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

, J. C. Penney, Content by Conran, Benchmark, and The Conran Shop. Conran's architecture and design practice also worked on projects in North America and Asia. In 2009, he licensed the Conran Shop to a partner in Japan. In September 2014, Cassina IXC Ltd acquired the entire business of The Conran Shop in Japan where it still thrives with four stores. In 2019, the Conran Shop opened in Seoul, South Korea. In 1997 he appeared as himself in “In the Smoke”, S5:E7 of ''

Pie in the Sky Pie in the sky, an idiom meaning an impossible or unlikely idea or plan as well as an empty wish or promise. Pie in the sky may refer to: * ''Pie in the Sky'' (TV series), a UK television series about a police officer turned restaurateur * ''Pie ...

''.

Restaurants

Besides Bibendum, Conran created many other restaurants in London and elsewhere. In 2005, he was named as the most influential restaurateur in the UK by ''CatererSearch'', the website of ''

Caterer and Hotelkeeper ''The Caterer'' is a weekly UK business magazine for hospitality professionals. It covers all areas of the hospitality industry (including restaurants, hotels, foodservice, pubs and bars) providing news, analysis and features about senior industry ...

'' magazine. In 2007, 49 percent of the restaurant business was sold to two former managers, who rebranded it as D&D London. In 2008, he returned to the restaurant business on a personal basis by opening Boundary, a restaurant, bar, café, and meeting room complex in Shoreditch, East London. This was followed in 2009 by Lutyens, a restaurant and private club within the former

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

building in Fleet Street London. In 2018, Lutyens, together with two other related restaurants, closed as Conran's hospitality venture wit
Peter Prescott
went into administration.

Books

He wrote over 50 books which broadly reflect his design philosophy, The majority of these books were published by Conran Octopus, a division of

Octopus Publishing Group An octopus (plural, : octopuses or octopodes, Octopus#Etymology and pluralisation, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight-cephalopod limb, limbed Mollusca, mollusc of the order (biology), order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of ...

, a cross-platform illustrated-book publisher founded by Conran and Paul Hamlyn.

Honours and awards

Conran was appointed

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

in the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

and Companion of Honour (CH) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to design. He was a winner of the

Chartered Society of Designers The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) is a professional body for designers. It is the only Royal Chartered body of experienced designers. Its membership is multi-disciplinary – representing designers in all design, disciplines including I ...

''Minerva Medal'', the society's highest award. Between 2003 and 2011, Conran was provost of the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

. In 2003, he received the

Prince Philip Designers Prize The Prince Philip Designers Prize is an annual design recognition given by the Chartered Society of Designers and originally awarded by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021). It is the longest running design award in the United Kingdom, h ...

in recognition of his lifetime achievements in design. In 2010, Conran was appointed a

Royal Designer for Industry Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustaine ...

by the Royal Society of Arts. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award at The Catey Awards in 2017. In 2019, Conran was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award b
The Furniture Makers’ Company
the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry.

Academic honours

In 2007, he received an honorary degree from

London South Bank University London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough ...

and, in August 2012, an honorary doctorate from the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

. In May 2012, he received an honorary professorship from the

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Ins ...

Family

Conran married architect Brenda Davison in 1952 at the age of 19; the marriage lasted six months. Conran married his second wife, journalist Shirley Pearce, in 1955 with whom he had two sons – Sebastian and

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

– before they divorced in 1962. Conran married his third wife, cookery writer Caroline Herbert, the following year. The marriage lasted for 33 years and produced three children – Tom, Sophie, and Edmund – before ending in divorce in 1996. Conran married his fourth wife, Victoria Davis, in 2000.

Death

Sir Terence Conran died on 12 September 2020, at the age of 88.

Bibliography

* ''The House Book''. Pub. Mitchell Beazley, 1974. . * ''The Kitchen Book''. Crown Publishers, 1977. * ''The Bed and Bath Book''. Crown Publishers, 1978. . * ''The Cook Book''. with Caroline Conran. Crown Publishers, 1980. ,. * ''The Vegetable Book''. Crescent, 1984. . * ''Terence Conran's New House book''. Villard Books, 1985. . * ''Terence Conran's plants at home''. with Susan Conder. Conran Octopus, 1986. . * ''Terence Conran's France''. with Pierrette Pompon Bailhache, Maurice Croizard. Little, Brown, 1987. . * ''Terence Conran's Home Furnishings''. 1987. . * ''Terence Conran's do-it-yourself with style''. Simon & Schuster, 1989. . * ''Tableware''. with Jeremy Myerson, Sylvia Katz. Pub. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990. * ''Conran's Decorating with Plants''. Smithmark Pub, 1990. . * ''Terence Conran's garden style'', with John McGowan. Ed. Roger DuBern. Crown Publishers, 1991. . * ''The Soft furnishings book''. Conran Octopus, 1995. * ''The French Room: Simple French Style for Your Home''. with Elizabeth Wilhide. Conran Octopus, 1995. . * ''Terence Conran on design''. Conran Octopus, 1996. . * ''The Essential Garden Book'' (Co-authored with Dan Pearson), Three Rivers Press, 1998. . * ''Terence Conran's Easy Living''. Soma Books, 1999. . * ''Terence Conran on restaurants''. Overlook Press, 2000. . * ''Terence Conran Small Spaces''. Clarkson N Potter Publishers, 2001. . * ''Kitchens: the hub of the home''. Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2002. . * ''Bathrooms: just add water''. Conran Octopus, 2004. . * ''Designers on Design''. with Max Fraser. Collins Design, 2005. . * ''The Ultimate House Book: For Home Design in the Twenty-First Century''. Ed. Elizabeth Wilhide. Pub. Conran Octopus, 2006. . * ''The Conran Cookbook''. with Simon Hopkinson, Caroline Conran. Conran Octopus, 2007. . * ''How to live in small spaces: design, furnishing, decoration, detail for the smaller home''. Pub. Conran Octopus, 2007. . * ''Storage: Get Organized''. Conran Octopus, 2007. . * ''Chef's Garden: Fresh Produce from Small Spaces''. Conran Octopus, 2008. ,. * ''Terence Conran's Inspiration''. with Stafford Cliff. Conran Octopus, 2009. . * ''Essential Colour''. Conran Octopus Publishing, London 2011, . * new edition ''Eco House Book''. Conran Octopus Publishing, London 2012, . * ''Plain, Simple, Useful: The Essence of Conran Style''. Conran Octopus Publishing, London 2014, .

Biographies

* ''Terence Conran''. by Nicholas Ind. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1996. . * ''Terence Conran: Design and the Quality of Life'' by Elizabeth Wilhide. Watson-Guptill, 1999. * 'Conran and the Habitat story' by Barty Phillips.

References

External links

Conran.com

Terence Conran profile on CatererSearch

Interview with Sir Terence Conran on new Design Museum – LUX Magazine 2013

Terence Conran interviewed by Ginny Dougary
(2005) *
The Brits Who Designed the Modern World
Artsnight - Series 4: 7, BBC Two
Obituary by Stephen Bayley, 12 Sep 2020

The transformation of London dining in the 1980s and 1990s
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conran, Terence 1931 births 2020 deaths 20th-century British artists 20th-century British businesspeople 20th-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century British artists 21st-century British businesspeople 21st-century English writers Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design British retail company founders Businesspeople from London Chartered designers

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

English businesspeople in retailing English company founders English industrial designers English interior designers English male non-fiction writers English non-fiction writers English restaurateurs Fellows of Chartered Society of Designers Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Compasso d'Oro Award recipients People associated with the Royal College of Art People educated at Bryanston School People from Chelsea, London People from Esher People from Kingston upon Thames People from Kintbury Product designers Restaurant founders Writers from London English republicans