With the Neotenic collection, we launched a sculptural design, embodying a certain lightness, even a hint of surrealism.

What a contrast, then, is the space where each shade of the Neo lights is made by hand. Here, it is about raw elements, heat, physical strength and heavy tools.

Early in the design process, Buchanan Studio and the O.BTC design team consulted with the glassblowers to finesse the shape and colourways of the lights. After all, this process was a key inspiration for the collection.

“We were completely mesmerised by the glassmaking process when we visited the factory,” recollects Angus Buchanan. “Watching Sam blow and manipulate the glass was incredible. The time, skill and artistry involved are astonishing.”

Watching our in-house team gather, shape, and layer colour by hand revealed the expressive potential of the material and set the direction for Neo.

THE CRAFT

The process starts at the furnace, where an orange-sized gather of molten glass is collected on the end of a stainless-steel blowpipe and kept in constant motion so it stays centred.

“It’s got a really nice consistency, quite viscous and honey-like,” says Sam, one of O.BTC’s glassblowers. “If you get a straw and stick it in a jar of honey and twist, you’ll get an idea of what it’s like to try and get glass out of a furnace.”

Back at the bench, the gather is shaped and blown into a small bubble, the first breath of air that begins the form.

From there, the shade’s signature depth is built in layers. The bubble is dipped into molten opal glass to create a soft white base, a foundation that comes alive when illuminated.

“We make the opal colour in-house,” Sam explains. “We buy all the ingredients, mix them together, load them into the furnace and melt them in a very similar process to melting sand.”

Colour is introduced through frit, small chips of coloured glass made with carefully balanced metals and oxides, from selenium for pink to blends of iron, sulphur and carbon for brown. The frit is rolled onto the hot surface of the glass, clinging before being melted in during reheating.

Then comes the part that defines Neo. The hot glass is dropped and stretched off the iron, then rolled back on itself, creating the marbled pattern through movement and controlled unpredictability.

“The challenge in creating the swirls is making sure you don’t let the glass get too hot and drip off your iron,” says Sam. “The erratic movements of the hot glass make it quite challenging to control.”

Veins of colour ripple through the opal base, and no two shades ever resolve in quite the same way.

Once the swirling is established, the bubble is re-dipped into clear molten glass to build up the final layer. This gather gives the shade its weight and strength, while locking the pattern beneath the surface. Back at the bench, the glass is rolled on a cork sheet until it resembles a spinning top, ensuring it will sit correctly in the mould.

The glass is reheated one final time before being lowered into a bespoke graphite mould. Designed in three lockable sections with a lid, the mould allows the shade to be released cleanly while holding its softly rounded bullnose profile. With the help of an assistant, the glass is gently blown, expanding evenly into its final form, smooth, rounded and precisely proportioned.

Once the shade has taken its final shape, a small amount of water is applied at a predetermined break point, allowing it to be tapped cleanly from the blowpipe. The hot glass is then placed into an annealing oven, where it cools slowly over twelve hours, strengthening the piece and relieving internal stress.

The final stage is cold work. Excess glass is carefully removed, the rim is sanded, bevelled and polished, and holes are drilled for the electrical components. From there, each shade is carried next door to our assembly team, where the light is wired, fitted and finished, then checked once more before being packed and shipped out, ready to become part of Neo.