Cut consumption to go green says design giant Conran

Being green starts at home, says design colossus Terence Conran, whose Conran Shop has just opened in Arnotts in Dublin

TERENCE CONRAN is known as a tastemaker, rather than a designer because his sphere of influence goes way beyond furniture and interiors. Conran’s journey from young Turk to knighted establishment is one that has transformed the way we all live and consume.

Since he opened the Soup Kitchen in London in 1953 his eateries introduced the concept of the affordable restaurant. When it opened in 1964, Habitat transformed the British home and shoppingscape. It remains one of his proudest achievements.

As well as his retail and restaurant business he has an architecture and design practice, which has been involved in a wide range of residential and commercial buildings around the world, including Yo Sushi and The Fitzwilliam in Dublin. His publishing enterprise, Conran Octopus, has fuelled our desire for compelling interiors and spawned the idea of lifestyle.

The Conran empire is worth an estimated £95 million to him and his family.

Some attribute his success to his astute understanding of what people want.

Habitat was one of the first stores to marry the idea of the small casual purchase with the big ticket buy. It gave the consumer great breadth of access. “What the public wants now is sustainability,” he says. “Sustainability is the new normal. It’s part and parcel of what it means to design and live responsibly and well. Reducing consumption is the key to sustainable living.”

This would seem an odd philosophy for a man who has just opened a new home emporium within Arnotts that offers 1,022sq m (11,000sq ft) of furniture, lighting, vintage pieces and home accessories. The furniture sector is down an estimated 50 per cent, so is now really a good time to expand?

“In downturns the buying public tend to gravitate towards well-made classics – pieces by Mies van der Rohe and Charles Eames continue to sell because they can see the prices they go for at auction,” he says. “These antiques of the future have proven themselves to be a damn good investment. It’s about buying less but buying better.”

It’s the mix of the contemporary with design classics and a smattering of vintage and antiques that really lends the Conran Shop its depth of feel.

His home – Barton Hall, a 17th century manor house – is also testament to this belief. “I play musical chairs with the furniture in the house, moving it around to update and refresh the look and feel of the rooms.”

In his book Inspiration a 1930s metal table that was previously in his London apartment is now pictured in the large livingroom at Barton.

His new school of thought is that buildings are the greatest polluters on the planet, responsible for a greater proportion of the C02 emissions that get passed into the atmosphere every year than cars, planes or factories. In his Eco Housebook he says that UK domestic households account for roughly one-quarter to one-third of all emissions.

Homeowners can do their bit by refreshing rather than ripping out, says Conran, whose own kitchen has been there for 35 years. “I change the mood by changing the lighting.” He also recently retiled the island unit and repainted the kitchen doors.

He’s also made strides to make the house more sustainable. “I used a puffed-out felt to insulate the roof but you can also do it with shredded newspaper.” All his hall lights are CFL lighting. “They don’t make a wonderful quality of light so I’ve wrapped some of them with coloured tissue paper.”

In business since 1952, Conran has experienced several downturns and crises. “Some of most successful things I’ve done have been launched in the depths of recession, the restaurant Quaglinos, for example, and Boundary (his newly opened restaurant-with-rooms in east London).

Getting older has made him rethink the way design works. “Getting in and out of some designs is now problematic,” admits the designer who suffers from a very bad back. “I was in Milan recently and took a bath and could not get out. The sides of the bath were impossibly high for me to try and get some downward pressure. There was no phone in the bathroom and while people knocked on the door I was shouting at them to come in and save me.”

He used to sit at an Eames desk chair but now prefers the dining chair from Boundary, which “has nice sturdy arms”.

Any regrets? When Conran was in the process of setting up the Design Museum he was offered the archive of Eileen Gray’s work by her niece, painter Prunella Clough. “I had to turn down the offer as we had no storage space at the time. It was awful. I don’t know what happened to it.”

At 78 years old, Conran shows no signs of slowing down. He’s recently found a huge disused building in central London that he wants to turn into a department store for young designers to set up in home furnishing and fashion, with a food market attached.

“Again, I’m being told that now is not the time to be doing such a project but . . .”

Terence Conran is a man who can’t say no.

Terence Conran will be in the new Conran Shop in Arnotts, Henry Street, Dublin 1, on Tuesday, December 5th, to sign his new book, Planting, which he co-wrote with Diarmuid Gavin. For further details call 01-8050400

MIX INCLUDES STARCK AND EAMES

THE CONRAN SHOP has some great value that will give the cheap chic brands like Ikea a run for their money. In lighting, there’s a Camera floor light that adds personality for just €120, while the contemporary black Stax dining chair costs €79. Designer purchases are also within reach. The Eames “Hang It All” is a coat hook with knobs on, price €199, while Thonet bentwood chairs get an update with a matte finish lacquer, price €130 each. A Plank dining table by Ercol is €649 while Philippe Starck’s Lady P dining chair costs €109.