Terence Conran's Inspiration

People say that the most successful homes are the most sustaining and invigorating to live in, or even just to visit. This is true of Barton Court, the house in Berkshire where Terence Conran has made his country home since 1977. It has been a family home, a center to his Habitat Design business, a factory and studio for producing commercial and domestic furniture, a laboratory for testing his recipes and writing cookery books and has a working fruit, vegetable and herb garden, supplying produce for his restaurants. Through Aythe objects that Terence has collected, and the things he finds on his travels, we can learn, not only about Aythe man behind a multi-million dollar empire, but the processes that stimulate his creativity and the sources of his inspiration.

In this part visual biography, part guided tourAyTerence Conran explains what he sees and what he should look for in good design andAyjust what has inspired him through his varied career.

Terence Conran is one of the world's leading designers, furniture-makers, restaurateurs, retailers and founder of the Habitat group of stores, which revolutionized home furnishings in the 1960s. He is Chairman of Conran Holdings, the parent company of his retail and restaurant businesses, and Chairman of Conran & Partners, his architecture and design practice.



Stafford Cliff is a distinguished graphic designer, art director and author. He joined the Conran Design Group in 1966 subsequently creating the best selling 'House Book and has continued to work with Terence on many projects from shops and airports to corporate identities. He is best known for his recent book 'The Way We Live' - a massive global survey of homes around the world.