Robert Heritage

Robert Heritage studied at Birmingham College of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. He then worked as a designer for the London based furniture manufacturer G.W. Evans. In 1953 Heritage set up his own studio with his wife, Dorothy who had also studied at the RCA. He subsequently worked as a designer and consultant for a number of manufacturers including Beaver & Tapley, Shannon, Slumberland, Race Furniture and Archie Shine. Robert Heritage first worked with Gordon Russell in 1969, and was responsible for the GR69 range a group of furniture for both living and dining room areas.

In addition to his work as a furniture designer, Heritage also designed lighting for Concord, Rotaflex, GEC and Tecnolyte, stainless steel cutlery for Yote Manufacturing Company, and clocks for Smiths Industries and English Clock Systems. Heritage taught at Twickenham School of Art, London (1953-55) and was professor of furniture design at the Royal College of Art (1974-85). He was made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) by the Royal Society of Arts in 1963 and was a Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers .Of the many awards received, Heritage was awarded the Aluminium Design Award in 1966, numerous Council of Industrial Design awards for furniture and lighting and the Bundespreise for lighting in 1972.