Bison Glasshouse blooming in Pialligo

Posted on 1 September, 2022

The creative genius behind Canberra’s iconic Bison homewares brand, Brian Tunks, is more excited than most for the arrival of Spring, opening the Bison Glasshouse — a new store to indulge his love of flowers and to display his kaleidoscopic hand-blown glass vessels.

The glasshouse is set on a small plot at the site of the former Pialligo Plant Farm, and is actually called “The Plot”. It will house a micro nursery alongside the glasshouse where Brian will show off his green thumb growing his speciality flower, the dahlia. Later this year he will have 100 varieties growing and already his potted peonies and cottage garden flowers are sprouting.

Brian Tunks’ beloved dahlias

Brian finds growing flowers is a salve for his mental health and it won’t hurt to have beautiful blooms available for purchase when deciding on which glass vase to take home.

Brian also loves the bucolic space and “agricultural vibe” of Pialligo.

“This location is linked so closely to Canberra’s early days. What a lot of people may be unaware of is that Pialligo and the Dairy Flat areas were our original market gardens and that there are also fossils from the Silurian period found there.”

This reference is due in part to Brian’s pre-Bison life as a postgraduate student of Classics and Ancient History at the Australian National University.

Starting the Bison design studio 26 years ago, Brian was a ceramics maker and finisher for about 17 years. But physical and mental burnout forced him in a new direction. In 2012 he started working collaboratively with studios internationally while at the same time exploring how glass would relate back to the ceramics.

“I’d worked with ancient glass in Syria on archaeological digs when at ANU and the translucency and fluidity of the medium drew me in.”

Bison now produces two collections. The first is under the Bison banner and is smooth glass in  various colours and includes vases, carafes, tumblers and bowls.

The second collection is under the name, BRIAN TUNKS. This range is also individually blown and cut but includes the use of different techniques and faceted surfaces.

“I use this as my way to explore different textures and finishes. It includes a multitude of vases, vessels, bowls, votives and lamps. They come in jewel-like hues and each one refracts the light differently.”

The Bison range is hand-crafted in Thailand where Brian works with two studios who also produce for companies such as Marimekko, iittala, and Royal Copenhagen.

The BRIAN TUNKS range is produced in India.

“The studio I work with also produces for casa Armani, Fendi, Tom Dixon and myself. Simple story really… we met at a design show and decided to work together on building a collection. The pieces have to be durable, but beautiful, and represent the antitheses of the ‘fast homewares/fashion’ culture. I am acutely aware that our legacy cannot ever be the landfill of tomorrow.’

Brian has been delighted by the enthusiastic reception for his glass ranges.

“We now have over 200 stockists or venues carrying it throughout Australia, and even international interest in representing our collections. It started small with two pieces and three colours…and we all know how much I love colour!  Stockists range from hotels such as the Crown at Barangaroo to David Jones and other fabulous retailers to venues such as Silky Oaks Lodge with our lamps. To be honest, I’m just grateful people love the individuality and beauty of the pieces. The fact that this just happens to be my job is a plus.”

The micro nursery is about to spring forth!