Iain Thorp

I’m a furniture and industrial designer with 35 years of experience across workplace, residential, and hospitality-oriented environments, including work connected to organizations such as Haworth, Steelcase, and IDEO.

Throughout my career, I’ve been most drawn to the early and exploratory phases of design — shaping concepts, identifying emotional and cultural needs, and creating products and environments that feel calm, human, and enduring.

My work is influenced by contemporary European and Japanese design, hospitality environments, and the growing convergence between living, working, and gathering spaces. I’m especially interested in thoughtful proportion, material warmth, emotional comfort, and environments that support genuine human connection and well-being.

Over the years I’ve collaborated closely with my wife Juliana, whose strengths in research, refinement, user-focused thinking, and detail development bring balance and clarity to the creative process. Together we value design that is emotionally resonant, visually restrained, practical, and deeply human. We are excited to begin our own studio together!

Currently exploring opportunities in furniture, hospitality, residential, and collaborative product development.

"My perception is, therefore, not a sum of visual, tactile and audible givens: I perceive in a total way with my whole being: I grasp a unique structure of the thing, a unique way of being, which speaks to all my senses at once.”

Maurice Merleau-Ponty 

Juliana Thorp

Working as a Furniture Designer my focus is on research, design development, and user-centered product experiences.  Drawing on my knowledge of workplace furniture, residential interiors, and the operational side of design practice, I bring a holistic perspective that balances user needs, design intent, and practical implementation.

“Become simple and good.”  ~ Saint Porphyrios