Allen Boothroyd

Inspired by his Meccano set, Allen knew from an early age that he wanted to design mechanical objects. He went to Merchant Taylors’ school and, after a foundation year at Hornsey College of Art, went on to study Art and Design at Manchester. On graduating he obtained a scholarship to the Industrial Design department at the Royal College of Art in London. During his time there, he designed hoppers for moving books around in a bookshop, a hospital bed, a parking meter, and received a prize for his pushchair design. He was a great admirer of the designers and architects of the Bauhaus, notably Walter Gropius who designed the Dessau Art School, and Mies van der Rohe whose adage, ‘less is more’, Allen adhered to and often quoted.

When Allen graduated from the Royal College of Art in the 1960s, not many people knew what an industrial designer did. He was always at pains to explain that it was not just a question of the product's appearance: it encompassed all the production engineering and mechanical stages to take a product from concept to market. He was a talented draftsman and, for most of his professional life, Allen's designs were produced by hand, with 3D visuals as well as detailed engineering drawings.

On graduation, he joined Hulme Chadwick and Partners, an architectural and design practice. His work there included the design of a new corporate identity for Bass Charrington.