Bellhop glass, Barber Osgerby design

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. That happens when a product is highly acclaimed and its shapes become almost immediately 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 aluminium for the Parabola restaurant and the members room of the Design Museum in London, Bellhop was subsequently proposed in a polycarbonate production version with six colour finishes in 2018, as a bollard, pole and outdoor wall lamp in painted aluminium 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, that feels like home.

“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 centre 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 sideboard model of 33 cm in diameter: all with triplex opal blown glass diffuser and aluminium parts, available in cioko, white and aluminium brill versions.

A lamp that can be totally disassembled

Bellhop Glass, both in the table and suspension versions, is a lamp that can be totally disassembled, held together only with invisible screws. In the table model, there is an injection-moulded 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.

Flos