Clerkenwell Design Week

Clerkenwell Design Week has come and gone having brought the latest creations from leading designers and brands in the UK and the rest of the world. This year stunned with an array of newly commissioned projects and pop-up workshops, as well as Conversations at Clerkenwell, industry expert led seminars that will surely excite the design world.

The specially converted Routemaster bus, following the #WoodRoute, boasts an incredible little cafe with delicate booths and wooden flooring made and designed by Havwood. Their new Vogue collection fuses a mixture of patterns and varying surfaces, proving that they are the technical and aesthetic leaders in the production of timber and floor cladding.

Flow, by Bolon, ‘highlights design fluidity, visual motion and soft pastel shades’. It is their first collection that uses a new tile shape that is reminiscent of the natural beauty of the oceans. ‘Scale’ reflects the Bolon design integrity and is made sustainably with the bottom layer of the backing being made from recycled material from their own onsite recycling plant.

Fresh from their exhibition at Salone del Mobile, Vitra’s Prouvé RAW collaboration with G-Star impresses in their Clerkenwell showroom. After the success of the Prouvé RAW collection in 2011, the second limited series in conjunction with G-Star continues the constructive logic of Jean Prouvé, reinterpreting ten of his classic designs. From May 25 these limited edition pieces will be sold in major Vitra showrooms and through dealers world wide until the end of 2016.

The London based design studio specialising in artisan textiles, A Rum Fellow, takes it name from the days of British global exploration, where artisan arts were discovered and “rum” was a term to describe something odd, peculiar or strange. The family owned business by Caroline Lindsell and Dylan O’Shea merges their love of crafts, design and global exploration using their travel to influence their collections. The end result is heritage crafts inspired by various South American countries utilising traditional techniques in the production of their textiles while supporting local artisans by working with weaving cooperatives and charities.

The summer garden centre piece, a replica of the yellow ‘Array Compact’ armchair by the acclaimed paper artist Lisa Lloyd stood in the middle of the faux grass covered entrance to the Davison Highley showroom. The 1.6m high replica of the chair is her largest artwork to date, taking more than 150 hours and 3000 individual cut paper tabs to complete. Lloyd’s paper art was on display in the showroom where she was also giving a demonstrations and making a smaller replica of the ’50s’ chair. She has an impressive CV, having been commissioned by Conde Nast and the Dutch beer brand Grolsch to produce a unique wallet design for their ‘Grolsch 400’ campaign.

Davison Highley are renowned for the consistent production of upholstered furniture and tables in a timely and cost effective manner. Their designs are fresh, innovative and will brighten up any space. Aside from the ‘Array Compact’ armchairs, the stand out in their showroom during Clerkenwell Design Week would definitely be the ‘Giraffe’ armchairs, a great piece for any eccentric home or office.

Designed by a highly creative and forward thinking team, ThinkingWorks, make multi-purpose commercial furniture with a particular specialty in height adjustment and table systems taking into account products used in a work environment. The .Cent team entered a competition to win the ‘Okidoki‘ table, created as a piece of furniture that would transition from home to office seamlessly, so our fingers and toes are crossed!

This years design week proved to be a spectacular one, not just for the free barista made coffees and pastries that were available at various showrooms, but for the innovative design inspiration it will bring into many offices and homes.