Mid-May in London should be warm and sunny and although there were interludes where the visitors to the mainly outdoor Clerkenwell Design Week were reminded just how glorious an English summer can be, they were interspersed with showers, some heavier bursts of rain and a very chilly breeze. Nothing however could dampen the spirits of the crowds that flocked to the events, venues, installations and showrooms which make up this all-embracing design fest.
Clerkenwell is a colourful, mixed-use district just to the north of the very centre of London, made up of multi-story buildings, many of which used to house the area’s brewers, distillers, printers and watch and clock makers. Historically important – it has been home to such diverse personalities as Oliver Cromwell, Charles Dickens and Lenin – the area has retained much of its character by converting the former workshops into a combination of showrooms, bars and restaurants, with the upper stories used as apartments. This mixture of uses brings employment to local residents and those from further afield, and a bustling, thriving, dynamic community which after sunset, enjoys eating, drinking and making merry.
Clerkenwell Design Week is unlike any other office interior related show. It owes its existence to the dozens of office furniture and interiors showrooms which have opened in this very compact area, attracted by the architects and designers who moved into what was then inexpensive, vacated, semi-converted, former industrial space. The entire area can easily be covered on foot from end to end in half an hour, taking in colourful displays from all over the world.
Interspersed with the mainly ground floor showrooms are fascinating historical buildings including churches, a prison, courthouse, workshops as well as attractive open spaces, many of which were commandeered by CDW, with every nook and cranny having been imaginatively transformed into temporary display space.
The effect of the district putting itself on show is heightened by eclectic, design-oriented, street displays and activities, many of which are frankly whacky. They do however successfully link showrooms and display and exhibition venues.
The UK economy has seen relatively good growth rates over the past few years, and the office furniture market has been expanding steadily. The strength of sterling has encouraged imports and both local and overseas office furniture, and interiors companies have been increasingly attracted to exploit the London market and open Clerkenwell showrooms. What was cheap space has now become expensive. There is however a momentum to the process which makes it almost essential for companies wanting to sell into this large and dynamic market to have show space in the area.
There were more than 80 showrooms participating in this year’s CDW – far more than last year – and the three days of the show were nowhere near enough if you wanted to cover the entire show properly. For many visitors from the UK, the show was as much about finding new possible suppliers of which they were unaware, as it was about seeing new products from the companies they already knew.
Well over 50,000 visitors were expected, up on last year despite the disappointing weather, and like all good shows, hundreds of pre-planned and impromptu meetings were taking place whichever way you turned, and the eating and drinking places did a roaring trade.
Trends
Office working practices are changing and so are the environments, as much in the UK as anywhere in the world. This continued to be clearly represented by the products displayed at the show, with plenty of space devoted to furniture for breakout areas and alternative ways of working. Manufacturers’ design and development budgets are clearly back in place, but many products on display had already been seen at last year’s Orgatec or Neocon, if not in Milan. Real wood finishes seem to be making a strong return after many years of colorful, if boring, MFCs or laminates. Natural and reconstituted veneers in both light and dark finishes and well as solid timbers were seen everywhere, from both UK companies such as Frem, Verco and Hands, and Continental European and U.S. manufacturers including Vitra, BuzziSpace, Vitamin Design and Gunlocke.
There was little emphasis on traditional workstations, although, where there was, height adjustability, real wood finishes and freestanding pieces, rather than systems, were often featured.
In seating, apart from some notable task seating such as Wilkahn’s new In chair designed by Wiege Design and Spree from GGI, most of the emphasis was on seating which would be as happy in a hotel lobby or your home, as it would be in your office. Attractive, comfortable-looking individual loungers were everywhere – such as Thonet’s magnificently relaxing new H08 chair designed by Formstelle of Munich – upholstered in earthy, organic finishes. Also seen in abundance were plenty of slimline, heavily tooled plastic and upholstered side chairs, some stacking, some with writing tablets and some with wooden legs. Bouncy stools seemed popular such as Don Chadwick’s Ballo from Humanscale.
There was still plenty of emphasis on enclosures for individual use or groups in every conceivable shape and size and made from fabric, glass, wood and even steel. Most had lighting and there was some attention given to acoustics – a few had even thought about ventilation. Apart from reflecting a need to subdivide open plan areas to create more human-scaled space for short term use, there was no real pattern of thinking or authority displayed in the products presented.
Very little attention seemed to have been given to storage. There were a few locker arrangements and some U.S.-styled executive workstation and storage configurations but otherwise, it was as if everyone is avoiding hard copy storage like the plague and relying exclusively on the clouds.
Companies and Products
Steelcase’s UK business has a large two-story showroom with the ground floor focused on newer products branded Coalesse which have yet to be incorporated into the mainstream, including Massaud Lounge from Jean-Marie Massaud and sixfivezero by Lievore Altherr Molina.
One item of new technology came from Frem whose Smart Workplaces system included a sensor built into a task chair linked to software which allows FMs to monitor individual chair usage by days, times and individuals. Knoll’s large and elegant showroom is arranged on two floors with rigid separation enforced between office and all other furniture. New products on display included the Pilot chair from British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
Koleksiyon from Istanbul in Turkey has an impressive showroom with much of the furniture and accessories designed by members of the Malhan family, who own and manage the business.
BuzziSpace’s attractive 1st floor showroom overlooks one of the main traffic junctions in Clerkenwell. New acoustic products on display included BuzziFalls space dividers and BuzziCactus, a floor standing screen in the shape of a cactus, complete with sharp spines!
Humanscale has introduced Ballo, designed by Don Chadwick, where you rest on an inflatable seat and balance yourself energetically, in order to avoid falling off. Distracting, perhaps, if you’re having a serious conversation.
A newcomer to London was the German company Ophelis, who took a pop-up showroom in the heart of the action and showed Docks, an attractive sectional seating system designed by Björn Meier from Berlin. Another company from Germany, although long established here, was Dauphin with its extensive ranges of seating, storage and tables, including the new chair from designer Martin Ballendat, Little Perillo XS.
Martin Ballendat also featured at Boss Design’s large and impressive showroom where he presented his new plastic shell chair, Coza
Sedus from Germany is also a long term stalwart in London, and their wide range of products was well displayed in their impressive showroom, including their new Secretair individual workstation.
Haworth has moved in with its newly acquired sister company, Poltrona Frau, and their showspace hosted a wide range of their products, as well as a working area from opendesk, whose software platform links furniture designers and manufacturers around the world.
Connection, from Huddersfield in the north of England, opened its extensive new showroom only this week in Great Sutton Street – fast becoming the area’s focal point – and presented Roger Webb’s Centro table available in two heights and a wide range of finishes. In keeping with the trends of the moment, the timber legs and trim looked attractive.
Another large showroom which was only hours old was Ocee Design, which presented ranges of task seating and breakout furniture.
By Bailey just opened in Clerkenwell with an attractive showroom presenting products mainly from HNI Group companies, one of the largest office furniture groups in the USA.
Bene from Austria continue to add to its portfolio of Pearson Lloyd products and showed the new Timba table and accessories.
Kusch & Co always shows attractive seating products, and its new Series 3600 ARN designed by Scaffidi and Johansen was no exception. It also hosts one of the liveliest of the never-ending stream of parties that go on each night of the show.
And finally, outdoor displays for the show included a sculpture in wood, ‘The Invisible Store (of carbon)’ by David Venables for the American Hardwood Export Council; Gx Glass (see title photo above) created by designers Cousins and Cousins; and two brand new concept cars from Renault.
The laziest form of transport was also sponsored by Renault with their electric two-seaters which whizzed you from one side of Clerkenwell to the other in a few moments. Clambering in and out, Houdini-like, was a good test of agility.
