TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK 2023 – Emma Black
Our interior design team had a busy, inspiring and productive few days in London as part of Clerkenwell Design Week 2023 from 23-25 May.
Clerkenwell Design Week is the UK’s leading design festival that celebrates London’s creative hub with more than 160 showrooms, 600 events, thousands of products, installations, brand activations, topical talks and more.
Interior Designer, Emma Black talks about the most inspirational talks she heard and the most innovative products and designs she saw during the week.
Favourite Showroom
Icons of Denmark. This was by far my favourite furniture manufacturer find of our whole visit. Each product was designed to be noticed. All products had a high-quality finish and featured sleek and considered design details. I love the exposed joints which elude to the level of craftsmanship. I particularly liked the Gab lounge chair, the Katla dining chair and the modular 4T system which can be used to create booths, rooms, screens and more.
Forecast of an Emerging Trend
Orange is back! I saw lots of orange interiors, fabrics and finishes, whether this is bright, eye-catching orange or more tonal and neutral oranges brought in through terracotta and burnt oranges. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed seeing these colours within the interiors!
Favourite Product
Mogu, Fields – These acoustic wall panels are made using mycelium. The irregular hexagon shaped tile is reeded, imitating the seeding tracks evoking the relationship between mankind and nature. The tiles are naturally white, however, can be dyed a range of neutral and natural tonal colours.
Buzz Topic
Inclusivity and flexibility – From portable lighting to designing for neurodiversity. There was a lot of focus on inclusivity, comfort and wellbeing. Ensuring we design spaces which have multiple choices for type of work environments e.g quiet zones, collaboration zones but also areas which are warmer, cooler, lots of natural light or less natural light.
Providing multiple areas where people can choose to work depending on how they feel will make the workplace more inviting and comfortable. Products which promote flexibility and movement also assist with this, we saw many portable lights, sit stand desks, mats which you can stand on which promote movement and assist those who are hyposensitive.
I loved this 3D printed freestanding room divider screen by Aectual. Aside from its physical benefits for space planning this divider adds texture and colour to a space.
