The new Duff Tisdall shop offers simple design and fine materials
Over the past 20 years, architects Arthur Duff and Greg Tisdall have quietly influenced the complexion of Irish interiors. They offered quality design at a time when very little was available here and have stuck to their guns: theirs is a timeless sort of style put forward by two very different personalities with a similar point of view when it comes to design.
Along the way, they have widened their scope, combining architecture with interior design, then producing their own furniture and more recently becoming purveyors of a tightly edited selection of goods designed by others. They have two shops in Dublin city centre and have just opened a third in the suburb of Goatstown. Where the other shops are little cramped, this one is a bright space over three levels.
"You can buy something small like a cushion or a larger item such as a sofa or bed," says Duff. "But we can also come to your house to do the entire interior or, on a more dramatic scale, re-build the whole house." Adds Tisdall: "Whatever your design problem, we can address it."
The philosophy of the new shop is about giving people options. "We're not going to 'brand' your home with a particular look," says Duff. "It's not like wearing a Gucci label that's instantly identifiable. What we're offering is a selection of things that we like and that customers can take and make their own."
But why would two busy architects want to manage shops? "We fell into it by accident," says Greg. "When we started out in the 1970s people wanted us to design interesting buildings but we couldn't find anything to furnish them with. So we found people who could make furniture we designed. The business built from there."
Their style owes a debt to Scandinavian design but it's all about simplicity, subtle colour and fine materials. "Shaker style was an early influence," says Tisdall. "There's logic to their simple designs made from really good materials - every element has a purpose. I don't know if there is such a thing as 'Irish design' any more because things have become so international, but we do our own thing and that's our version of Irish design."
Consistency is one of the keys to their success. "If something works, why change?" asks Duff. "We go by a principle of refinement in design, changing a material, colour or detail. The trend in retailing is to change all the time; instead we make a virtue out of refinement. In fashion terms, a jacket will always be a jacket but it's details that make it different." So what you buy today can be added to at a later date, knowing that it will be compatible with the earlier purchase.
They are one of the few companies that make furniture in Dublin city centre and have a team of craftspeople working on commissions at their North Circular Road premises. "That's also where we refine custom ideas for products that can be made in larger numbers and sold in our shops," says Duff. They are also involved with much of the design for other furniture they sell. "We have a hand in the making and design of things such as sofas - it's not possible for us to make everything but we have companies abroad that we've worked with for a long time and tailor things to our taste."
It's not surprising that furniture has started to appear at auction houses tagged 'made by Duff Tisdall' as a selling point. At the new shop, the atmosphere is not one of hard sell and there's a sense that they've nothing to prove. "We should all enjoy our homes. If we can help people put them together nicely, then the shop will be a success."
Duff Tisdall, Goatstown, Dublin 14 01-2051119 www.duff-tisdall.ie