Keystone Magazine Keystone Magazine 5th EN | Page 49

IN CONVERSATION WITH
About THE DESIGNER
With over three decades experience, Luke
Hughes is one of the most accomplished
f u r n i t u re d es ig n er s i n t h e U K . Th i s
Cambridge graduate has designed and
produced furniture for over 900 boardrooms,
80 churches, over a dozen cathedrals, over
50 Oxbridge colleges, 20 major academic
libraries, 19 major public schools, seven
national museums, five royal palaces, two
supreme courts, just to name a few from his
long list of projects. Hughes began in the
early 1980s as a one-man workshop designing
for private clients, which expanded into a
more commercial venture by, and has grown
since 1985. In 2010, he was shortlisted for
a Walpole Award for British Luxury Design
Talent for ‘outstanding achievement in
design, craftsmanship, business and culture.’
He has also contributed to his field of
expertise, as the former Chairman of the
Grants Committee of the Crafts Council,
and of the Art Workers Guild – both British
entities. Amongst his other passions are
teaching and writing about his craft with a
focus on sustainability and environmental
responsibility, and mountaineering. He has
climbed the North Face of the Eiger and, over
25 years, explored much of the unmapped
central climbs of Tibet. Hughes was also the
Chairman of the Mount Everest Foundation
until 2015.
While in conversation with The Keystone
Magazine, he said, “I dreamt of a mountain
and was lucky enough to make that dream
come true.” It is this passion and purpose
that he brings to all his works. For him the
deepest fulfillment comes from being an
inspiration for others, as he recollects: “I
remember a library I designed a couple of
years ago for a school and I met the student
6 months after it had officially opened. They
said, “It is such a cool place to be seen!” And
then followed it with, “can I come and do
work experience for you?” If that was the
reaction from a pretty cynical 16 year old…
it is worthwhile.”
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