Bob Britton - Principal
Bob Britton has been in the Interior Design field for 20 years. Through this experience and work on hundreds of job, both massive corporates and small personal homes, he has accomplished more than he ever thought possible.
In the dim dark reaches of history Bob was indentured with Shoralplan Design & Construction Management in the UK as an apprentice Interior Designer. I stayed with SDCM, eventually leaving in 1988 as Director of Furniture Consulting, by which time the firm had grown to over 400 people strong. I was involved in designing dealing room and office furniture for ground breaking projects for the deregulated banking sector in London. I came to Australia in the same year joining Davstoc Design and then buying the business with three partners in 1990. Under the banner BBR Design Partnership with yours truly as Managing Partner we quickly became one of Perth’s strongest ID practices, employing up to 20 staff. But after partnership disagreements, in February 1994 I left and set up Edge InArc. Bringing this right up to date; June 2007 we rebranded Edge InArc as Evoke Interior Design.
What was your best travel experience?
1) 6 years old, travelling on an old four engine, prop powered Brittania aircraft of the RAF on the mail run from Lyneham in the UK West Country to Singapore. This was a six day journey stopping in Dusseldorf, Gibraltar, Tobruk,, Famagusta, Aden, Sharjah, Gan. Just my Mum & I – the only passengers on the plane.
2) Driving from Portsmouth through France to our holiday home in Commaruga de san Vincente, Spain. 36hours during which we were stopped by border guards at the entry to the tunnel de viella on the French side of the Pyrenees at 2.00am in the morning and forced to empty a car full of disposable nappies in the poring rain. The French guards thought we were concealing drugs.
3) Driving up to Exmouth each year with my son.
What cant you live without?
Sounds sooky I know, but my wife and kids. I could handle it if everything else was taken away; but not them.
What are you listening to at the moment?
The noise of my delete key as I keep re-writing this bio.
The clunking noise in my boat gearbox – I wish I knew what was wrong with it.
Oh, you mean what music am I listening to, well:
Daft Punk – since their gig on Perth Foreshore in January I’m completely hooked.
Machine Translations – Love on the Vine.
What has been the happiest moment of your life?
When I found out the Lion King was only a movie. It was just too much to bear when Mufasa was killed.
In the dim dark reaches of history Bob was indentured with Shoralplan Design & Construction Management in the UK as an apprentice Interior Designer. I stayed with SDCM, eventually leaving in 1988 as Director of Furniture Consulting, by which time the firm had grown to over 400 people strong. I was involved in designing dealing room and office furniture for ground breaking projects for the deregulated banking sector in London. I came to Australia in the same year joining Davstoc Design and then buying the business with three partners in 1990. Under the banner BBR Design Partnership with yours truly as Managing Partner we quickly became one of Perth’s strongest ID practices, employing up to 20 staff. But after partnership disagreements, in February 1994 I left and set up Edge InArc. Bringing this right up to date; June 2007 we rebranded Edge InArc as Evoke Interior Design.
What was your best travel experience?
1) 6 years old, travelling on an old four engine, prop powered Brittania aircraft of the RAF on the mail run from Lyneham in the UK West Country to Singapore. This was a six day journey stopping in Dusseldorf, Gibraltar, Tobruk,, Famagusta, Aden, Sharjah, Gan. Just my Mum & I – the only passengers on the plane.
2) Driving from Portsmouth through France to our holiday home in Commaruga de san Vincente, Spain. 36hours during which we were stopped by border guards at the entry to the tunnel de viella on the French side of the Pyrenees at 2.00am in the morning and forced to empty a car full of disposable nappies in the poring rain. The French guards thought we were concealing drugs.
3) Driving up to Exmouth each year with my son.
What cant you live without?
Sounds sooky I know, but my wife and kids. I could handle it if everything else was taken away; but not them.
What are you listening to at the moment?
The noise of my delete key as I keep re-writing this bio.
The clunking noise in my boat gearbox – I wish I knew what was wrong with it.
Oh, you mean what music am I listening to, well:
Daft Punk – since their gig on Perth Foreshore in January I’m completely hooked.
Machine Translations – Love on the Vine.
What has been the happiest moment of your life?
When I found out the Lion King was only a movie. It was just too much to bear when Mufasa was killed.
If you could choose anyone to sit next to on a long flight, who would it be and why?
Andrew Denton or Michael Parkinson. I’ve never known any other person to get the best out of the people they talk with. I reckon that being interviewed by either of them you’d actually find out who you are.
What are the essential ingredients to a happy life?
The past is already taken care of; the future will take care of itself; enjoy being present to this moment
How do you take your coffee?
Strong and milky. A surfeit of flavour for my dying taste buds
What is your worst habit?
Trying to pack too much into every moment and then missing it.
What is your earliest childhood memory?
On a beach with my parents when we lived in Cyprus. I was 2YO. I remember crawling under what I thought was the flap of our beach tent only to find it was someone else’s.
Who is the most amazing person you have met and why?
• Ron Moss, a client of mine from way back. Don’t know if he’s still alive. When he was a teenager he inherited a pipe bender from his dad who had been a plumber; perfected it and turned it into an automated bike making machine which he sold to Raleigh bikes in the UK. That was his first fortune.
• With his capital he bought a tooling business that made canning machines. He developed a tool to make ring-pull food cans. He used this technology and bought a pet-food canning business. That was his second fortune.
• He sold his business to Pedigree Pet Foods, a move in which he became their CEO. That was his third fortune
• I met him when he became my client in the early 80’s. At that time he owned Wentworth golf course in Windsor Great Park in the UK and we were fitting the premises out. He was then in his late fifties. We went on a furniture shopping trip, being driven in his chauffeured limo through the Cotswolds in the UK.
• Ron told me that financial success and emotional independence could never be found earning wages. Go develop an idea, that’s the only place where financial and emotional fulfillment is:
o The best innovation is something we already know well but done better:
o Commit to it absolutely
o Design and develop it, nurture it like a child
o Only when it’s good and ready and when you’re completely satisfied that you’ve done it to its best, then go find a buyer. If you’ve done everything right it’ll sell.
Andrew Denton or Michael Parkinson. I’ve never known any other person to get the best out of the people they talk with. I reckon that being interviewed by either of them you’d actually find out who you are.
What are the essential ingredients to a happy life?
The past is already taken care of; the future will take care of itself; enjoy being present to this moment
How do you take your coffee?
Strong and milky. A surfeit of flavour for my dying taste buds
What is your worst habit?
Trying to pack too much into every moment and then missing it.
What is your earliest childhood memory?
On a beach with my parents when we lived in Cyprus. I was 2YO. I remember crawling under what I thought was the flap of our beach tent only to find it was someone else’s.
Who is the most amazing person you have met and why?
• Ron Moss, a client of mine from way back. Don’t know if he’s still alive. When he was a teenager he inherited a pipe bender from his dad who had been a plumber; perfected it and turned it into an automated bike making machine which he sold to Raleigh bikes in the UK. That was his first fortune.
• With his capital he bought a tooling business that made canning machines. He developed a tool to make ring-pull food cans. He used this technology and bought a pet-food canning business. That was his second fortune.
• He sold his business to Pedigree Pet Foods, a move in which he became their CEO. That was his third fortune
• I met him when he became my client in the early 80’s. At that time he owned Wentworth golf course in Windsor Great Park in the UK and we were fitting the premises out. He was then in his late fifties. We went on a furniture shopping trip, being driven in his chauffeured limo through the Cotswolds in the UK.
• Ron told me that financial success and emotional independence could never be found earning wages. Go develop an idea, that’s the only place where financial and emotional fulfillment is:
o The best innovation is something we already know well but done better:
o Commit to it absolutely
o Design and develop it, nurture it like a child
o Only when it’s good and ready and when you’re completely satisfied that you’ve done it to its best, then go find a buyer. If you’ve done everything right it’ll sell.
