Clerkenwell Design Week London - 2015 A Review

John Sacks

Photography by John Sacks

John Sacks 2015

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CDW London

Mid-May in London should be warm and sunny and although there were interludes where the visitors to this mainly outdoor festival 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-storey buildings many of which used to house the areas brewers, distillers, printers and watch and clock makers. Historically important it has variously been home to such diverse personalities as Oliver Cromwell, Charles Dickens and Lenin much of the character of the area has been retained 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 showroom to showroom and the display and exhibition venues.

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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 years 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, much time is spent on making new friends and meeting and greeting old ones. 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 years Orgatec or Neocon, if not in Milan. Real wood finishes seem to be making a strong return after many years of colourful, 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 US 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 Wilkhahns new In chair designed from 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 Thonets 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

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upholstered side chairs, some stacking, some with writing tablets and some with wooden legs. Bouncy stools seemed popular such as Don Chadwicks Ballo from Humanscale. In chair by Wilkhahn H08 chair from Thonet

There was still plenty of emphasis on enclosures for individual use or groups all 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 US-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.

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Companies and Products

Steelcases UK business is has a large two-storey 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.

sixfivezero from Steelcase

Massaud Lounge from Steelcase

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. Knolls very 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 & Jay

Osgerby.

Knolls Pilot chairs

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Koleksiyon from Istanbul in Turkey have an impressive showroom with much of the

furniture and accessories designed by members of the Malhan family, who own and manage

the business.

Part of the Koleksiyon showroom.

BuzziSpaces attractive 1st floor showroom overlooks one of the main traffic junctions in

Clerkenwell from which they can observe the world passing by. 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!

Buzzifalls

Buzzicactus

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Humanscale have 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 youre having a serious conversation.

Ballo from Humanscale

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 Bjrn Meier from Berlin. Another company from Germany, but this time long established

here was Dauphin with their extensive ranges of seating, storage and tables including the

new chair from designer Martin Ballendat, Little Perillo XS.

Ophelis sectional seating, Docks Little Perillo XS from Dauphin

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Martin Ballendat also featured at Boss Designs large and impressive showroom where he

presented his new plastic shell chair, Coza.

Coza by Boss Design Martin Ballendat

Sedus from Germany are also long term stalwarts in London and their wide range of

products was well displayed in their impressive showroom, including their new Secretair

individual workstation.

Sedus secretair 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.

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Connection from Huddersfield in the north of England, opened their large new showroom

only this week in Great Sutton Street fast becoming the areas focal point - and presented

Roger Webbs 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.

Centro table from Connection

Another large showroom which was only hours old was Ocee Design who presented ranges

of task seating and breakout furniture.

Ocee Design showroom

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By Bailey has 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.

Mark Bailey of By Bailey

Bene from Austria continue to add to their portfolio of Pearson Lloyd products, and showed

the new Timba table and accessories.

Timba table from Bene.

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Kusch & Co always show attractive seating products and their new Series 3600 ARN

designed by Scaffidi and Johansen was no exception. They also host one of the liveliest of

the never-ending stream of parties that go on each night of the show.

Series 3600 ARN by Kusch

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 created by

designers Cousins and Cousins and two brand new concept cars from Renault

The Invisible Store (of carbon) Renault concept cars

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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.

Renault runabouts

John Sacks London, 23 May 2015