Hot fifty – Robin Levien

Robin Levien has long been acknowledged as an expert in industrial ceramics. His taps and toilets are legendary, particularly for UK bathrooms company Ideal Standard, for which he became non-executive design director in 2003.

He set up his own product design group, Studio Levien, with his wife, graphic and garden designer Tricia Stainton, in 1999, following an amicable split from his former consultancy Queensberry Hunt Levien. It was at QHL that Levien earned his reputation for award-winning bathroom design, while David Queensberry and Martin Hunt were more concerned with tableware and the like for clients such as Rosenthal and Marks & Spencer.

But bathrooms are by no means Levien’s only thing. The eight-strong Studio Levien counts tableware brands Villeroy & Boch, Guzzini, The Tabletop Group, Costa Verde and Dansk among its clients.

Apart from being an undisputed design talent, Levien is also an astute design champion. Among those who he has commissioned for Ideal Standard projects, as part of his design management role there, are Pearson Lloyd and Jasper Morrison, all deemed to be among the best of British design.

Levien’s prowess has been recognised. He is a Royal Designer for Industry and was a runner up in last year’s Prince Philip Designers Prize that was won by celebrated graphic designer David Gentleman. And we can expect more to come.