Benjamin Hubert is no stranger to applause. The 27-year-old Londoner is among Britain’s most decorated young designers, owning prizes from the British Design Awards, Elle Décor, and 100% Design’s Blueprint Awards. But when a phone call from out of the blue informed him that Patricia Urquiola had hand-picked him for Architektur & Wohnen’s prestigious Audi-Mentorpreis award, he was caught off guard. “Usually you know in advance if you’ve been chosen to win something,” Hubert says. “This was a complete surprise.” Earlier this month, he was whisked off to Germany and honored at an opening party for IMM Cologne, with Urquiola at his side making introductions to her reputable friends.

Coracle, a hand-woven leather lounge chair with stitched automotive leather and a leather-wrapped steel frame. 

Strong-willed and hard-nosed, Hubert founded his studio in 2007. Since then, he’s designed pieces for Casamania, Zero, Viaduct, De Vorm, Blå Studio, and Örsjö Belysning, among others. At the London Design Festival last fall, he released his collection for De La Espada, where furniture and lighting accessories of granite, perforated leather, and hand-turned marble were made with the help of the Portuguese brand’s artisan contacts who infused each piece with the individualized quality of a handmade object. At the Stockholm Furniture Fair next month, he’ll launch his inaugural piece for Scandinavian label David Design: a turned oak fruit bowl with ribs on its surface that allow its contents to breathe.

Cargo, a leather panelled dining or occasional chair. Hand-crafted, self-supporting leather panels attach to a light ash timber frame with mechanical fixings.

“I try to focus on the material as a starting point for a project as opposed to how something looks,” Hubert says. “Sustainability and supporting local industry is built into each piece, and the design language is kept simple and clean.” He is motivated by exploring tactile materials, and has incorporated everything from lacquered aluminium to thin-walled cast concrete into his work.

Quarry, a set of hand-turned, thin-walled marble pendant lights with roughly finished interior to add texture and describe the story of stone production.

Hubert credits the development of his hands-on approach to the training he received from design consultancies during his studies at Loughborough University, where he saw a lot of injection-moulded plastic and lavish use of machinery. But at its core, he is pursuing a more intimate connection with his craft. “Doing anything creative is a difficult industry,” Hubert says. “It takes a lot of bloody-mindedness and hard work.”

Benjamin Hubert
Title image: The De La Spada Collection.