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Bellhop Glass

Design Barber Osgerby, 2024

“A light creates an atmosphere in a room, fills it up with warmth and comfort, people are drawn to it. That’s why the forms of light need to be pleasant, not challenging. With Bellhop Glass we used the familiar form of the Bellhop family collection diffuser, and experimented with dimensions in combination with a triplex, opaline glass to allow the light to shine through from all sides, while a small aperture at the bottom directs it towards surface beneath. The result is homogenous, welcoming light for the space, coupled with an unexpected task.”

Starting from the iconic Bellhop diffuser, Barber Osgerby and Flos have developed a new collection of suspension and table lamps in blown glass: for a diffused and homogeneous ambient lighting that is also direct, from below.

When a product is highly acclaimed its shapes become naturally archetypal.

This is exactly what happened with Bellhop, developed by the British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby for Flos.

Originally created in 2016 as a bespoke battery-powered table light in blue aluminum for the Parabola res-taurant and the members room of the Design Museum in London, Bellhop was subsequently proposed in a polycarbonate production version with six color finishes in 2018, as a bollard, pole and outdoor wall lamp in painted aluminum in 2019, as a floor version in 2021, and most recently as a wall lamp and a Matte Black edition in 2022.

The Bellhop success owes much to the immediate recognition of its bell-shaped diffuser, which envelops the light source, creating a compact object with soft shapes, a roommate that feels like home wherever you are.

“Bellhop was created to be used every day, and everywhere,” say the designers. “Its shape became instantly familiar because it was designed just enough to be attractive, while carefully avoiding any timely trends. It is a simple but effective presence, never boring."

For the Fuorisalone 2024, Barber Osgerby have taken the characteristic shape of the diffuser of the Bellhop to propose a radical evolution in terms of personality and usability: the result is the new Bellhop Glass, a family that includes a table lamp of large dimensions and three suspensions.

The new Bellhop Glass

“When we design for Flos, our starting point is never the shape but the quality of the light,” explains Jay Osgerby. “In this case, we wanted to obtain an ambient light, warm and welcoming, homogeneous and soft to illuminate larger spaces without creating strong contrasts. We asked ourselves what would happen if we allowed the light to escape from the Bellhop diffuser (which, in previous versions, was opaque and directed the light downwards) and if we expanded its dimensions".

Hence the idea of a glass diffuser, developed together with the Flos R&D department.

The study of the different materials available led to the definition of an opaline triplex blown glass, i.e. made of a sandwich of glass layers, with the white layer inserted in the center of two transparent ones.

The use of triplex opaline glass and the large size – that keeps the light source at a distance from the internal surface of the diffuser - made it possible to obtain the desired lighting: one that fills the space in a uniform, warm and welcoming way.

Bellhop Glass was created in three pendant models of 18, 33 and 45 cm in diameter, and in a table or side-board model of 33 cm in diameter: all with triplex opal blown glass diffuser and aluminum parts, available in cioko, white and aluminum brill versions.

Bellhop Glass tabletop

The 33 cm diameter diffuser of the table version of Bellhop Glass rests on a cylindrical base of 12 cm in di-ameter in aluminum, a material that was also chosen for the ease with which it can be managed at the end of its life (it is totally recyclable), available in cioko, white and aluminum brill versions.

To brighten aluminum, Flos uses fixing tanks which alter its surface: the result is a shiny finish that does not oxydise not is oxidising to the human touch.

The rose and the ring that connects the diffuser with the cylindrical base are in aluminum, available in ci-oko, white or aluminum brill finishes.

“The finishing details are made of metal, plated or painted because they have a structural role, they must support the large blown glass diffuser”, explains Edward Barber.

Bellhop Glass suspension

The pendant Bellhop Glass has been developed in 3 sizes of 18, 33 and 45 cm in diameter.

The peculiarity of this model is the possibility to use it as an ambient but also as a task light, which directly illuminates, with a non-blinding cone of light, the surface on which it is suspended.

“Pendant lamps are often open at the bottom, but the result is a too intrusive, dazzling light,” explains Ed-ward Barber. “With Bellhop Glass we created a double opening in the glass: in the upper part, to accom-modate the electrical components, and at the bottom. Here we created a hole, protected by an aluminum element, large enough to direct the light (and change the bulb) but which does not bring the diffusion up to the eyes of those sitting at the table".

A cone of light is therefore created inside the suspended Bellhop Glass: which expands homogeneously in the environment on all sides and lands on the table precisely, like a torch, visually signaled by the colored aluminum ring that surrounds the lower opening of the lamp. The cylinder above the suspension also refers to the latter, also made of colored metal.

“The cylinder that emerges from the top of the lamp is an aesthetic reference to the Bellhop family, a cylindrical extrusion in which the electrical components are positioned,” explains Osgerby.

The cable that supports the lamp comes out from the cylinder, while the electric cable exits from its side.

“We wanted to give a choreographic role to the electric cable,” continues Edward Barber, “For this reason, there is a small hole, marked by a ring on the side of the painted steel cylinder. It’s a design choice that allows the technical element to be animated, as if it were a visualization of the electricity flows reaching the lamp".

A totally disassembled model

Bellhop Glass, both in the table and suspension versions, can be totally disassembled, as it is held together only with screws, all of which are invisible.

In the table model, there is an injection-molded ring in plastic material between the diffuser and the base: here, thanks to the presence of micro-fins, the diffuser fits into the base with a simple gesture. In the pendant model, all elements are screwed.

Most components of the lamp are recyclable at the end of life.