Dezeen Magazine

Dan and Luke Pearson – Port interview
Photography is by Tereza Cervenova.

Designer brothers Dan and Luke Pearson reveal their London workplaces

These new images offer a look inside the office of garden designer Dan Pearson, as well as the workplace of his younger brother Luke, who is co-founder of industrial design studio PearsonLloyd.

Commissioned for the latest issue of Port Magazine, the pictures show the bright, contemporary spaces occupied by the two designers and some of the personal objects that fill them.

Dan and Luke Pearson – Port interview
Dan Pearson's studio is located in Lambeth, south London

Dan's studio in Lambeth, south London, is unsurprisingly dotted with a variety of plants and flowers, while other features include a sculptural lighting pendant and exposed brick walls.

Meanwhile, the Hoxton studio Luke runs with business partner Tom Lloyd is furnished with the designers' own pieces – including the Peggy Table and the Healey Lounge chair – as well as functional Vitsœ shelving units filled with books and objects.

Dan and Luke Pearson – Port interview
Images are pinned up across the walls, while plants and flowers are dotted around the space

The photographs accompany the first interview the pair have ever given together. In the interview, they explain the influence their parents had on both of their careers by encouraging them to work with their hands.

"We had an incredibly patient father, and a very industrious, capable mother who seemed to be able to turn her hand to anything," said Luke. "It was a very unpretentious household – even if you had quite serious thoughts about something creative, it was dealt with in a very matter-of-fact way."

"I think it was a very natural thing for us to make things that were three-dimensional," added Dan.

Dan and Luke Pearson – Port interview
PearsonLloyd's studio is located in Hoxton, east London

Dan was born in 1964, three years before Luke. He dropped out of his A-levels to train as a garden designer, first at the Royal Horticultural Society's garden in Wisley, then later at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh and at Kew.

He has since won a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show and collaborated with architects including Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers and David Chipperfield.

Dan and Luke Pearson – Port interview
The space is furnished with the designers' own pieces, including the Peggy Table and the Healey Lounge chair

Meanwhile, Luke studied design at the Royal College of Art before starting his career in the office of veteran industrial designer Ross Lovegrove. He and RCA classmate Lloyd set up PearsonLloyd in 1997 and have become specialists in furniture for offices, healthcare and aviation.

Dan and Luke Pearson – Port interview
Functional shelving by Vitsœ showcases an assortment of books and objects

In the interview, the pair both revealed what they think of each other's approach.

Luke said he admires Dan's selection of projects for being closely linked to who he is. "Sometimes that has to do with wisdom, and sometimes luck or scale," he said.

Dan described his brother's work as "beautifully crafted and reduced back to what it needs to be".

Dan and Luke Pearson – Port interview
Models of some of their chair designs are also on display

"I'll only travel on Virgin planes because Luke did the business-class flat bed," he said. The seats create a whole environment where, for a small amount of time, you're allowed to feel really comfortable."

"Everything works very nicely and it's your own place, you're privileged to be there."

The full article is published in Issue 19 of Port Magazine.

Photography is by Tereza Cervenova.