Spotlight: OVO
‘Spotlight’ is a series that focuses on a single product developed by Foster + Partners Industrial Design – offering insights into the design process. Ranging from lighting, furniture to building systems, each edition celebrates a key milestone, award, anniversary or project installation.
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Maggie’s Manchester, and we are highlighting the OVO collection, originally developed for the centre as part of a furniture scheme designed to support communal life and emotional connection.
Maggie’s Manchester is a place of refuge, where people affected by cancer can find emotional and practical support throughout treatment and recovery. The architectural design directly informed the Industrial Design studio’s approach, shaping OVO as a furniture collection that supports human connection.
OVO began with a single dining table that anchors communal life within the centre – and has since expanded to a collection comprising shelving systems, benches, high and low tables and storage units. Designed in collaboration with Benchmark, the British manufacturer known for its sustainably crafted timber furniture, the collection marked the start of a long-standing partnership.
The making of OVO reflects a hands-on process – from timber sourcing, CNC cutting, sanding, and oil finishings applied by hand. Through an approach of making and prototyping, the studio developed the table’s ‘pillowed’ edge – creating a softened, sculpted profile that replaces the conventional sharp edges of a traditional table, which responds to the human body by aligning with the natural angle of the arm. This subtle detail transforms how the table is experienced, inviting closeness and making the act of sitting, leaning, and gathering feel natural and more comfortable.
As OVO was adopted across other projects, the collection evolved organically in response to different architectural contexts and typologies – from educational centres, commercial spaces, and residential units. Each new piece retains the core principles of tactility, material honesty, and craft – while adapting to new uses and scales.
For the Cleveland Clinic Samson Pavilion in Ohio, OVO was reinterpreted for the large atrium space as a five-metre table, which incorporates lighting and concealed power. This application also introduced a key challenge to the studio – transportation. Originally, the OVO table for Maggie’s Manchester was not designed to be flat-packed, therefore, the team of industrial designers had to create a new system that made the legs detachable. A threaded rod runs through the full length of each leg, allowing it to be screwed and unscrewed from the tabletop. This allows flat-pack transport for global transportation while maintaining the collection’s characteristic design.
Crafted from solid timber, the collection is available in different materials including natural oak, ebonised oak, walnut and a variety of durable oiled finishes.
Today, the OVO collection is featured across a range of projects and scales, from residential interiors to commercial and cultural – including the Cleveland Clinic Samson Pavilion in Ohio, OXMAN Studios in New York, Le Dôme Winery in Bordeaux, Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, and Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia.
