Isokon
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA British modernist architecture and furniture brand associated with Lawn Road Flats and influential bent-plywood design.
Last updated August 24, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile yet.
Overview
Isokon originated in London in 1929 as an architecture and design venture founded by English entrepreneur Jack Pritchard and Canadian architect Wells Coates. Initially named Wells Coates and Partners, it was renamed Isokon in 1931, a name derived from “Isometric Unit Construction” and intended to suggest an affinity with contemporary European and Russian constructivist design. The enterprise sought to unite architecture, furniture and domestic equipment in a coherent modernist system, rather than treating buildings and their contents as separate disciplines. Its defining architectural project was Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead, North London. Designed by Coates to a brief developed by Molly Pritchard and influenced by the modernist concept of the minimum dwelling, the reinforced-concrete building opened in 1934. It provided compact flats for professionally minded residents and incorporated unusually extensive domestic services, including laundry, shoe cleaning, bed making and food delivery by dumb waiter. The building’s ground-floor Isobar restaurant and bar, designed by Marcel Breuer and F. R. S. Yorke, helped make it a meeting place for architects, artists, writers and intellectuals. The building later became known as the Isokon building and is now associated with the history of modern architecture in Britain. Isokon also developed furniture and fittings using plywood and other industrial materials. Jack Pritchard’s employment with Venesta, the British subsidiary of Estonian plywood manufacturer A. M. Luther, helped provide access to plywood production and manufacturing expertise. The furniture programme involved major modernist designers, including Wells Coates, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, László Moholy-Nagy and Egon Riss. Notable pieces included book units, nesting tables, stacking chairs, the Long Chair, the Short Chair, storage products and the Penguin Donkey book carrier. Gropius became the company’s Controller of Design in 1935, while Breuer subsequently held the role and produced some of the brand’s best-known bent-plywood furniture. The original company was never a substantial commercial success. Its supply chain was severely disrupted in 1939 when the outbreak of the Second World War and the Soviet confiscation of A. M. Luther in Tallinn cut off the Estonian plywood connection. The Isokon Furniture Company ceased trading that year. Pritchard revived it in 1963, working with designer Ernest Race and reintroducing historically important pieces. In 1968, John Alan Designs received a licence to produce products including the Long Chair, Nesting Tables and Penguin Donkey Mark 2. Support from Penguin Books founder Allen Lane helped the Penguin Donkey Mark 2 achieve wider recognition. A further manufacturing transition occurred in 1982, when Chris McCourt of Windmill Furniture began producing Isokon designs under licence from the Pritchard family. The business later traded as Isokon Plus and subsequently Isokon. Its modern collection expanded beyond historic reissues through collaborations with designers such as Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, Michael Sodeau, Shin and Tomoko Azumi, Jasper Morrison and Foster + Partners Industrial Design. Later products included the Loop Coffee Table, Flight Stool, Donkey 3, the Bodleian Libraries Chair, the Iso-Lounge Chair and the Join collection. The Isokon name therefore covers several connected legacies: a short-lived interwar architecture and furniture company, the Lawn Road Flats as a major British modernist building, and a continuing licensed furniture enterprise. The Lawn Road building was listed by English Heritage, eventually reaching Grade I status, and a permanent exhibition opened in its former garage in 2014. The Isokon Gallery presents the building’s architectural history, its residents, the Bauhaus connection and the development of the furniture collection.
History
Jack Pritchard entered the plywood and interiors business through Venesta, a British subsidiary of the Estonian manufacturer A. M. Luther. His commercial experience and interest in modern design led to a partnership with architect Wells Coates, whom he had met through the European design network. In 1929 they established Wells Coates and Partners to design modern houses, flats, furniture and fittings as an integrated programme. The firm adopted the name Isokon in 1931, drawing on the phrase “Isometric Unit Construction.” The partnership’s most important built work was Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead. Coates designed the reinforced-concrete block after Molly Pritchard developed a brief based on the modernist minimum-flat idea. Opened on 9 July 1934, the building contained compact single, double and studio flats, staff accommodation, kitchens and a garage. Its service infrastructure was intended to make small-scale modern living practical for young professionals. The later Isobar restaurant and bar, completed in 1937, reinforced the building’s cultural role. Lawn Road Flats became closely linked with the international modernist movement. Walter Gropius lived there and served as Isokon’s Controller of Design from 1935. Marcel Breuer, another Bauhaus figure, lived in the building and succeeded Gropius in the design role. László Moholy-Nagy contributed promotional graphics and the company’s chair-based logo, while Naum Slutzky was another Bauhaus-associated resident. The building attracted writers, architects, artists and political figures, and its residents included Agatha Christie and Max Mallowan. Its reputation as an intellectual centre became an important part of Isokon’s historical identity. Furniture production was central to the original concept. The company used plywood to create lightweight, economical objects suited to modern apartments. Coates designed book units and storage furniture; Gropius produced pieces including an aluminium waste-paper basket and side table; Breuer designed nesting tables, dining furniture, stacking chairs and the Long and Short Chairs; and Egon Riss designed several storage and book-carrying products. Despite the strength of its design programme, the company was commercially fragile. The loss of Estonian plywood supplies after the outbreak of the Second World War brought the original Isokon Furniture Company to an end in 1939. Pritchard revived the furniture business in 1963, engaging Ernest Race and reintroducing selected designs. In 1968, John Alan Designs was licensed to manufacture several pieces, including the Long Chair and Penguin Donkey Mark 2. The latter benefited from the endorsement and commercial support of Penguin Books founder Allen Lane. In 1982, production passed to Chris McCourt’s Windmill Furniture, which manufactured the historical collection under licence from the Pritchard family. The enterprise later used the names Isokon Plus and Isokon. The revived business gradually added new work alongside reissues. BarberOsgerby’s Loop Coffee Table, introduced in 1996, began a sustained relationship with the company. Subsequent additions included products by Michael Sodeau, Shin and Tomoko Azumi, Jasper Morrison and Foster + Partners Industrial Design. This strategy preserved the brand’s association with plywood and modernism while allowing it to participate in contemporary furniture design. The architectural building followed a separate preservation path. Jack Pritchard sold Lawn Road Flats in 1969. The Isobar was removed during later conversion, and the building was sold to Camden Council in 1972. It received Grade II protection in 1974 and Grade I listing in 1999, but inadequate maintenance caused serious deterioration. In 2003 it was acquired by Notting Hill Housing Group in partnership with Avanti Architects, led by John Allan, with a commitment to create a museum. The Isokon Gallery opened a permanent exhibition in the former garage in 2014. In 2018, an English Heritage blue plaque commemorated the building’s Bauhaus residents. Isokon’s current significance consequently rests on both its continuing furniture collection and the preserved architectural and cultural history of Lawn Road Flats.
- 2018
Bauhaus commemorative plaque unveiled
[1]English Heritage marked the building’s association with Gropius, Breuer and Moholy-Nagy with a blue plaque.
- 2014
Isokon Gallery opens
[1]A permanent exhibition opened in the former garage of Lawn Road Flats.
- 1996
Loop Coffee Table introduced
[1]BarberOsgerby’s Loop Coffee Table became the first new furniture design added to the collection since the 1960s revival.
- 1982
Windmill Furniture begins licensed production
[1]Chris McCourt’s Windmill Furniture took over licensed manufacture of Isokon furniture.
- 1963
Furniture business revived
[1]Jack Pritchard restarted the Isokon Furniture Company with new production and historic design reissues.
- 1939
Original furniture company closes
[1]The Second World War and the loss of Estonian plywood supplies ended the original furniture operation.
- 1937
The Isobar added
[1]A restaurant and bar designed by Marcel Breuer and F. R. S. Yorke opened on the ground floor of Lawn Road Flats.
- 1935
Walter Gropius becomes Controller of Design
[1]The Bauhaus founder joined Isokon’s design leadership while living at Lawn Road Flats.
- 1934
Lawn Road Flats opened
[1]The modernist Hampstead building formally opened on 9 July and became Isokon’s signature architectural project.
- 1931
The Isokon name adopted
[1]The partnership changed its name to Isokon, referring to Isometric Unit Construction.
Products and positioning
Design-led British modernism combining architectural heritage, bent-plywood furniture, Bauhaus connections and licensed reissues with contemporary designer collaborations.
Architecture · 1934
Lawn Road Flats
Wells Coates’s reinforced-concrete residential building in Hampstead was Isokon’s key architectural project. Opened in 1934, it combined compact flats with shared services and later housed the Isobar restaurant and bar. The building is now a protected modernist landmark and includes the Isokon Gallery exhibition.
Chair · 1935
Isokon Long Chair
Designed by Marcel Breuer in 1935–36, the Long Chair is a bent-plywood modernist lounge chair associated with Isokon’s Bauhaus-era design programme. It was among the historic products reintroduced through later licensed production.
Book storage · 1939
Penguin Donkey
Egon Riss’s compact plywood book carrier was designed in 1939. The product was later reworked by Ernest Race as the Penguin Donkey Mark 2, whose association with Penguin Books helped make it one of the best-known Isokon products.
Table · 1936
Isokon Nesting Tables
Marcel Breuer’s nesting tables exemplify Isokon’s use of bent plywood to create lightweight, space-efficient furniture for modern interiors. They were part of the collection revived and manufactured under licence after the original company’s closure.
Table · 1996
Loop Coffee Table
Designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, the Loop Coffee Table was introduced in 1996 and marked the beginning of a major programme of contemporary designs for the revived Isokon collection. Its bent-plywood construction connects modern production with the company’s historical material language.
Book storage · 2003
Donkey 3
Designed by Shin and Tomoko Azumi, Donkey 3 is a later interpretation of Isokon’s compact book-carrying and storage tradition, extending the Penguin Donkey lineage into contemporary furniture design.
Chair · 2014
Bodleian Libraries Chair
Designed by BarberOsgerby for the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, this chair is a contemporary addition to the Isokon portfolio and reflects the brand’s continuing focus on plywood, institutional furniture and collaboration with established designers.
Chair · 2021
Iso-Lounge Chair
Jasper Morrison’s Iso-Lounge Chair is a contemporary Isokon design introduced in the twenty-first-century collection. It continues the company’s relationship with restrained modernist forms while moving beyond its original Bauhaus-era catalogue.
Furniture collection · 2025
Join Chair and Tables
The Join Chair and Tables collection was designed by Foster + Partners Industrial Design as a later addition to the Isokon range. It extends the brand’s contemporary collaboration model into coordinated seating and table products.
Brand decisions
1982
Transfer licensed manufacturing to Windmill FurnitureM&ABackground
The revived Isokon collection required a continuing manufacturing partner for historical furniture designs.
Action taken
Chris McCourt’s Windmill Furniture took over licensed production from the Pritchard family.
Aftermath
The business later traded as Isokon Plus and then Isokon, combining reissues with new designer furniture.
1939
End original furniture operationsStrategyBackground
The outbreak of the Second World War and the Soviet confiscation of A. M. Luther disrupted the supply of plywood from Estonia.
Action taken
The Isokon Furniture Company ceased trading.
Aftermath
The historic furniture collection remained dormant until Jack Pritchard revived the business in 1963.
1931
Rebrand as IsokonStrategyBackground
The original Wells Coates and Partners name did not fully express the venture’s ambition to combine architecture, industrial design and modern construction.
Action taken
The partnership adopted the Isokon name, derived from Isometric Unit Construction.
Aftermath
The new name became associated with the Lawn Road Flats project and the company’s furniture programme.
Sources2 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/isokon · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled