‘‘The Gift of Light’’ Collaboration

We recently took a collaboration on a festive joyride around London as part of the annual Christmas Defender Meet, with our friends at Studio Hay and Buster + Punch. Our custom Defender carried a cargo of Takeouts through the city streets – kicking the festive season off on a light note.

Buster + Punch’s new portable table light, Takeout, is the gift of 2025. Crafted from solid metal in steel or brass, with their signature cross-knurl and the beautiful, warm glow of their light pipe technology, it’s an unboxing experience that puts other gifts in the shade.

At Manuel Urbina Studio, we've always believed that great design stems from intentionality stripping away the unnecessary to reveal the essential. As an award-winning, design-led studio based in London, we specialise in residential architecture and interiors that celebrate pure materiality and thoughtful solutions. Our work is driven by a fundamental question: how can we refine the spaces we inhabit to better reflect how we live, work, and what we truly value?

This philosophy naturally drew us to Buster + Punch. Their approach mirrors our own rooted in architectural thinking, committed to exceptional craftsmanship, and uncompromising in their attention to detail. What sets B+P apart is how their design ethos translates seamlessly into every product they create. As architects, we don't simply specify finishes; we curate experiences. When we choose to work with a brand, we're making a statement about our values and our commitment to our clients.

This collaboration represents more than a partnership, it's about practising what we preach within the wider design industry. We're opening a platform that celebrates working with suppliers whose products we genuinely believe in, whose stories resonate with our own, and whose quality speaks for itself. Buster + Punch's compelling narrative, architectural background, and meticulous execution make them an ideal collaborator, and I'm proud to stand as an ambassador for a brand that shares our vision for design excellence.

We frequently collaborate with Studio Hay, also based in London, an interior design firm with a deep-rooted passion for working with natural materials and using raw tactility to elevate its projects. The Defender project gave us the chance to explore notions of Britishness and robust functionality – the cornerstones of one of history’s most recognisable automobiles.