Design by David Mellor

David Mellor had just graduated from the Royal College of Art in London when he approached Abacus (then NORMID) about designing a range of lampposts from tubular steel. As good fortune would have it, this was around the time that we decided to stop outsourcing the manufacture of our steel lighting columns - and so a productive partnership began. The range of street furniture we commissioned from this young designer - including lampposts, bus shelters and even bins - soon became best-sellers, redefining the modern street scene and earning Mellor an enviable place in design history.

Fast facts

• Launched in 1956, Mellor’s ’152 series’ of town and country bus shelters has never been outsold by any UK competitor. 140,000 have been installed to date…and counting!
• Mellor’s work with Abacus earned the company a coveted Design Council Award in 1974 - and for company pioneer John Pratt, a Fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts.
• Mellor was also a keen silversmith, producing some of the most innovative cutlery and tableware of his time.
• You’ll find many of David’s Abacus pieces at the David Mellor Design Museum in Hathersage, Derbyshire.