We have known the guys in Scotland at Lightweight Medical and Element06 (one in the same) since they visited New Zealand 4-5 years ago. Since that time Ryder Meggit worked at our old studio in Grey Street along with Neil Tierney and Blythe Rees-Jones has travelled to the UK and subsequently worked with them for 9 months in Glasgow and London.
We have known the guys in Scotland at Lightweight Medical and Element06 (one in the same) since they visited New Zealand 4-5 years ago. Since that time Ryder Meggitt worked at our old studio in Grey Street along with Neil Tierney and Blythe Rees-Jones has travelled to the UK and subsequently worked with them for 9 months in Glasgow and London.
A close relationship was formed on the back of a common goal of sustainable product design and alot of shared ideas about an evidence based, systematic approach to product design. I also referred a New Zealand product designer, Anja Macdonald, to see the guys a year or so ago and she has been based in Glasgow since this time working on some environmentally focussed work and other design and research projects (as well as fitting in alot of mountainbiking by the sounds). So there is a good connection with New Zealand.
This group of innovative designers is of mostly Scottish extraction are a mix of Design Engineers, Mechanical Engineers and Industrial Designers. Founders Neil Tierney, Neil Farish and Ryder Meggitt are all from the Glasgow School of Arts (GSA) design engineering course. This team was expanded to other key founding members Brian McGuigan, and Rory Wilkinson. Together they make an impressive team. The younger members mostly come from Brunel, a renowned course which seems to consistently produce top graduates . They exit with a robust set of skills and are sought after by the likes of Dyson and other leading manufacturers.
This is the first time I have been able to visit ‘The Yard’ and see the studio that has housed the team for the last few years. It is 4-5 flights of seriously old stairs up to the top of the building and then you enter into a large high studded space with several rooms off each side for a workshop, kitchen and then a meeting room. The kitchen is kept well stocked with food for the team to dip in when they need a bit of a nutrition, and the team organise the stocking of it weekly between themselves, a system that seems to work well. Particularly with the hours the team pull.
The pellet fire - cranking it out (Critical for Glasgow Chill).
The studio is in Govan, Glasgow and overlooks an industrial area that is in the process of being redeveloped.
It was great to see where the guys have been working over the last few years in the course of establishing themselves as an independent design team. After catching up on a bit of work, I did a presentation in the afternoon discussing our approach to product development. After a few Q&A’s we finished up and then headed out to dinner on a rather chilly night.
Glasgow Weather kicking in.
The yard is at the end of its tenure though, as the whole team are migrating down country to London where the other half of the team are already based working on their successful smart meter project, Onzo.
