DE S IGN CENTRE
introduced them. Thomas O’Brien’s inaugural collection for Visual Comfort launched in 2003 and, nearly two decades on, the relationship is still going strong. Early lights such as Nina, an ultra-simple collection
O’Brien describes as coming “from the world of Geo Ponti and Italian modern things”, and the luxe- meets-industrial Hicks series have become classics and he continues to create two new lines each year, all of which are available from Circa Lighting, which recently opened its European showroom at the Design Centre. The latest additions are Francesco, a family of angular lights made from aged iron and Galahad, a series that pairs Art Deco-esque faceted metal stems with totally 21st century LED technology. Together these lights express the essence of O’Brien’s
design philosophy. “I want to make new things that are evocative of something familiar,” he explains. “Things that draw you into the idea that they always existed.” That philosophy is evident in his other product
collaborations and at Copper Beech, the lifestyle store he opened in a building that once housed his home town’s much-loved grocery shop, but it is most clearly
articulated in his architecture and interior design work. In the course of his long career, O’Brien has worked on both residential and commercial projects ranging from re-configured lofts and historic country houses, to the chic boutique SoHo hotel 60 Thompson and the
“A HOUSE THAT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE IS THE MAGIC I AM WORKING TOWARDS”
vintage-modern interiors of The Greenwich Lane, now one of New York’s most sought-after condominiums. The styles vary, but in each his approach is to work with the client and the location and encourage something individual and modern to spring from historical ideas of restoration and authenticity. “I rarely take a project
that is just decorating,” he says. “I like to start with the architecture and then blend that with the interiors thinking, making sure all the details are true and that they have a sense of time connected to them. A house that looks like it has always been there is the magic I am working towards.” He has certainly conjured that magic at his own
homes, The Academy, a former schoolhouse dating back to 1883 and its neighbour, The Library House. Created with his husband, the designer Dan Fink, this guest house-cum-design studio appears to be a traditional 1830s-style
shingled house with a neoclassical brick
wing behind but, as he writes in the recent book of the project, “it is all new – a newly made old house.” O’Brien, for all his respect for and knowledge of the
past is a contemporary designer excited by the future. When I ask him what we can look forward to from him next, he smiles. “Oh, many wonderful things. I’m working on a book about my garden, three residential projects and a collection of very exciting ceiling fans for Visual Comfort. In all of it, beautiful is going to be a bit more important than cool.”
ABOVE: At his home in Bellport, Long Island, O’Brien and his husband Dan Fink have created an impeccably detailed residence. The Academy was built in the 1830s and used to be a schoolhouse; this living room was formerly the classroom. OPPOSITE: Each space is filled with its own maximalist mix of furniture, antiques, objets, and extensive period and modern art, orchestrated in rich layers. In the studio, the ‘Hicks’ pendant , is reflected in the mirror. Made from hand-rubbed antique brass and white glass, O’Brien designed it for Visual Comfort
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