Designers donate one-offs to Royal Brompton fundraiser

Some of the biggest names in design are collaborating to create a series of one-off pieces that will be sold at auction house Christie’s, to raise money for the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust.

The event has been organised by journalist Amanda Talbot and her partner Ollie Heath, who recently underwent a life-saving heart operation at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

Entitled Heart and Design, the event is hoping to attract audiences from the London Design Festival and London Fashion Week.

Talbot set a brief for designers, asking them to consider what the heart of design is. They responded with one-off pieces, adaptations of existing pieces and prototypes.

Tom Dixon, famous for his ‘salvage furniture’, has made a coffee table prototype, Silver Slab (pictured), with a reserve of between £6000 and £8000.

Spanish product, interiors and furniture designer Jaime Hayón has created Heart Machine, a porcelain piece with an estimate of £25 000-£35 000, an allegory of a guardian figure, sitting on a ceramic ‘heart machine’ that looks after weak hearts.

Interior accessory specialist Robbie Spina has designed a chair. Furniture duo Fredrikson Stallard has created a vase, while a prototype fridge by the late designer Joe Colombo is expected to fetch between £25 000 and £30 000.

Talbot has also set up a panel selecting the work of emerging product and fashion designers, with the help of Sir Terence Conran and Esquire editor Jeremy Langmead. Their work can be seen at the auction house from 13-15 September.

Bids can be placed online at www.heartanddesign.org prior to the auction, which will take place on 15 September at Christie’s, London SW7.