Inspired by the optimism of the 1990s, the ‘T4’ collection by London-based architecture practice Holloway Li in collaboration with Turkish manufacturer Uma features candy hues and a playful design. The collection also marks the furniture debut for the practice, led by interior architects Alex Holloway and Na Li, and was originally unveiled during London Design Festival 2022 at their space within The Market Building in Clerkenwell.
Cool Britannia and 1990s design icons such as inflatable chairs and lava lamps, as well as TV references (think Big Brother’s Diary Room or ‘the golden era of the chat show sofa’) form the basis for the collection which, the architects explain, ‘is an homage to the visual language of colourful onscreen scenography that dominated before the turn of the millenium’.
The modular seats are defined by an inviting, warm palette with shades including Melon Yellow, Blush Pink, Overground Orange and Cream Soda, and feature a bold fibreglass base with an upholstered seat and back in the same colour. Uma’s expertise lies in the production of moulded composites used in the automotive industry (as well as London buses), and every piece is hand-finished at its Izmir factory.
‘Our factory provides an extraordinary testing ground for designers where their ideas can be realised,’ comments Uma founder Steph Gallia. ‘Holloway Li’s playful and future-facing aesthetic and our technical know-how have resulted in the creation of lightweight banquettes with a stony finish for the hotel rooms of [London’s] Bermonds Locke, and the brightly coloured red and amber resin panels that currently stand tall in the shopfront of The Market Building.’
The designs are available as single seats, corner modules as well as other elements that can be combined to create a multitude of compositions. ‘It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with Uma on realising our first standalone modular furniture collection,’ say the designers.
‘As a studio, we’re always looking to film and television to tell new stories through design. In creating the series, we wanted to reference our childhood memories of the optimism of the 1990s Big Brother era and the colourful brash scenography that dominated our screens growing up; transporting this joyful nostalgia into our homes.’
INFORMATION
-
Tobi Masa lands at The Chancery RosewoodChef Masa Takayama’s debut London restaurant transforms modernist geometry into a space of ritual calm and culinary purity
-
Bionic Labs builds precision next-level Apple accessories from aluminium and stainless steelFrom stands, chargers and keyboard trays to a set of accessories for the Vision Pro, Parisian design studio Bionic Labs offers only the best for your Apple gear
-
Yuko Mohri’s living installations play on Marcel Duchamp’s surrealismThe artist’s seven new works on show at Milan’s Pirelli HangarBicocca explore the real and imaginary connections that run through society
-
Sophie Smallhorn’s plywood tables for Uncommon Projects are colourful and modularThese modular tables by the artist and the plywood specialist play with colour for function, fun and flexibility
-
American vision meets British craft in Billy Cotton’s new collaboration with Soane BritainYes, there’s rattan, but the lauded New York designer also brought in brass, oak and more. ‘There’s a sort of alchemy to these materials,’ he says
-
Six lighting designs we discovered at London Design Festival 20252025 was a year of great lights at London Design Festival: from leading lighting companies and emerging makers, here are six illuminating designs our team discovered across the city's exhibitions
-
A new coffee table book proves that one designer’s trash is another’s treasureThe Rizzoli tome, launching today (16 September 2025), delves into the philosophy and process of Retrouvius, a design studio reclaiming salvaged materials in weird and wonderful ways
-
Is this the world’s most comfortable sofa? Cozmo and Pearson Lloyd invite you to find outPearson Lloyd and Cozmo lay bare the design process behind ‘Hug’, their new high-backed sofa design, at the eye-opening exhibition ‘Comfort Lab’ during LDF
-
Feldspar's furniture is designed to make you smileFeldspar's furniture debut includes a dining table, side tables, a bench, a floor lamp and the possibility of a cheval mirror, all made in their workshop in Devon
-
Welcome to Salt, a London hair salon-turned-immersive audio experienceStyling meets sound design at Salt’s second London outpost, a high-concept space by Unknown Works designed to be heard as much as seen
-
Terence Woodgate and John Barnard create sculptural furniture from carbon fibreTwo legendary designers have brought the worlds of collectible design and motorsport together with a celebration of carbon fibre’s structural and sculptural qualities
