Paul Priestman and Nigel Goode run one of the brightest and best British design consultancies. They design everything from kitchen knives and mobile phones to the latest high-speed Virgin trains and interiors for the giant new double-decker Airbus A380. Yet one of Priestman Goode’s most familiar products — seen everywhere from glossy interiors magazines to television style programmes — is a not-so-humble domestic radiator.

Hot Spring is what it is called, for obvious reasons. Water runs through pipes, pipes can be coiled into spirals, so why not make a radiator in the form of a giant coiled spring? It’s a visual pun but it works well and looks great. This is not a radiator that tries to pretend it does not exist. Quite the reverse: it’s a show-off.

You’d have to be pretty self-indulgent to fit this design throughout the house. Equally plainly, you wouldn’t use it if you were very tight for space, as it is 8in in diameter — though since it runs vertically, it takes up much less wall space than you might imagine. But as a feature in a large room — particularly a loft-style apartment — it’s hard to beat.

Hot Spring, which you can order through heating dealers, is made by contemporary radiator specialist Bisque, and comes in four lengths from two to six feet. There are various colours and finishes, including the favourite (but least efficient) shiny chrome. Starting at £365 for the smallest version, prices spiral on up from there.

There’s a pricier electric version for those places where the central heating pipes don’t run. But however it comes, Hot Spring is one of the most original and popular takes on what used to be a design-free zone.

Bisque, 01225 478 500, www.bisque.co.uk

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