072 DECORATIVE & DESIGN / PROFILE


BEAU MCCLELLAN design file


After large-scale success in the Middle East, one artist-designer is preparing to tackle London.


For most designers, the offer of large-scale commissions comes after years working the international design circuit; the reward for an apprenticeship of reputation-building product development. For Beau McClel- lan, however, the journey has been a total reverse of this traditional route. Though exhibiting at the London Design Fes- tival for the first time this September, he has already accrued an impressive project portfolio, encompassing large-scale pieces for private clients, as well as some major corporate works in the Middle East. Indeed, McClellan’s chandelier for one cli- ent in Qatar has been given the Guinness Record nod as the world’s biggest, but as the artist is quick to point out, this was far from the initial intention. “We never set out to break any records, and neither did the client,” he says. “He was really trying to get something that worked aesthetically within


his building – that was our main focus.” The building in question was the Al Hitmi office development that stands on the Corniche in Doha. A striking structure, it comprises two sections that appear to lean away from each other. McClellan first saw the building on a post- card that was thrust into his hands as he stood talking to prospective clients on his stand at the 2007 Light Middle East show - delivered with a cryptic message that someone would ‘be in touch soon’. It was such a brief exchange that when the call fi- nally came many weeks later, McClellan had all but forgotten about it. His services were required, the caller said. Was he free to fly out to take a look? Naturally, his answer was yes and the next day he was on a plane heading east. The client wanted McClellan to create a piece to fill the vast atrium space between


the building’s two halves. In particular, he was keen to include the semi-translucent mirrored glass pieces that had been shown on the designer’s stand in Dubai. Mirrored glass has become something of a Beau McClellan calling card, and the story of its development is typical of the designer’s circuitous route into lighting. McClellan’s past reveals a tireless thirst for creative challenges; from time as a singer-songwriter; to a stint as art direc- tor on commercial films; to set design for the fashion industry; and eventually to Portugal were he set up as a sculptor using traditional blacksmithing techniques. The leap to lighting came when a client asked if he could incorporate illumination in one of his pieces, in effect creating a chande- lier. He soon realised that, while he could create aesthetically beautiful structures, he simply didn’t have enough experience and


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148