Robert Heritage was born in Birmingham, England, on 2 November 1927. He studied at Birmingham College of Art (1942-46) and the Royal College of Art, London (1947-51). He then worked as designer for the London-based furniture manufacturer G.W. Evans (1951-53). In 1953 Heritage set up his own studio with his wife, Dorothy Heritage [formerly Dorothy Shaw] who had also studied at the RCA. He subsequently worked as a designer and consultant for a number of manufacturers including G.W. Evans [with Dorothy Heritage), Beaver & Tapley, Shannon, Slumberland, Race Furniture and Archie Shine. In addition to his work as a furniture designer, Heritage has also designed lighting for Concord, Rotaflex, GEC and Tecnolyte, stainless steel cutlery for Yote Manufacturing Company, and clocks for Smiths Industries and English Clock Systems.

Heritage taught at Twickenham School of Art, London (1953-55) and was professor of furniture design at the Royal College of Art (1974-85). He was made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) by the Royal Society of Arts in 1963 and was a Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers (FSIAD).

DESIGN RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS ©Robert Heritage

From the Design Journal:

Quartet lighting Designer: Robert Heritage. Maker: Rotaflex Manufacturing Ltd. A versatile range of display lighting fittings made of die-cast aluminium with a permanently tensioned satin-finished stirrup and a built-in 360ø stop. The range can be wall or ceiling mounted on a shock-proof moulded plate; the portable version has a chromed steel saddle allowing directional adjustment. The fittings can also be mounted on Lytespan track. The light sources (shown here from it to right) include: 50 w-12 v crown silvered lamp with parabolic reflector; 300 w sealed beam unit; 50w-12v long range reflector lamp; and 100w mains voltage, crown silvered lamp with parabolic reflector. (The 12v fittings have built-in transformers). Accessories include a hood, colour and heat filters, fresnel and diffuser lenses, and a louvred baffle. Finish is white or grey. Height 72 inches. Width 5 inches. Prices: from £3 9s 11d to £11 9s 5d, depending on the light source. Model numbers of the ceiling fittings shown below are:(left to right) 4542,4540,4545,4543. Numbers of the other award winning fittings in the range are: 8525,8527,8529,8530,4425,4427,4428,4429,4910,4915,4916.

Robert Heritage had worked with Rotaflex on the design of two other Quartet ranges before being commissioned to design the Major fitting, which was to use a 300w sealed-beam lamp. The brief for the Major was very tight: the enclosure had to be capable of taking several different light sources; the heat from the 300 w lamp had to be adequately dissipated; some parts standard to earlier- and smaller- Quartet lights had to be used; and the maximum time allowed for production assembly by Bernard Stern managing director, Rotaflex Manufacturing Ltd was laid down as a maximum of 45 seconds. To achieve an attractive solution appeared unlikely: earlier Quartet fittings had simply been square boxes, too small to take the diameter of the 300 w lamp. Yet the stirrup - which could straddle nothing wider than the original box - was specified. It seemed that the enclosure must look top heavy. Heritage has refined the bulk of the lamp itself to the absolute minimum by keeping the front of the enclosure circular. Behind the face of the lamp, the enclosure flows into the original Quartet box shape but, to avoid a top heavy look, fins have been added to the two sides not held by the stirrup. These fins not only improve the proportions but dissipate heat, so that the enclosure can be handled comfortably even with the 300 w lamp switched on. Assembly times average only 28 seconds per lamp.

The QuartetMajor fittings won first prize in the recent Aluminium Design Awards, sponsored by the British Aluminium Co Ltd in collaboration with the Council of Industrial Design The company Bernard Stern set up Rotaflex in 1953 with £1,000 borrowed from three friends and £130 of his own. Last year the firm's pre-tax profits were £208,000. The company has won two previous Design Centre Awards, and exports more than half of its output under the name Concord. The designer Trained at Birmingham College of Art and the Royal College of Art, Robert Heritage has won three Design CentreAwards for furniture and one for a crock. He became a Royal Designer for Industry in 1963.

Design Journal, No.209, The Duke of Edinburgh's Prize for Elegant Design and the Design Council Awards 1966, May 1966. pp.28-57.