Brewhouse Yard|||
Clerkenwell Design Week returns for a seventh edition this week (24-26 May 2016). It is now a firm fixture on the design calendars both for the hundreds of local architects and designers who only have to step outside their offices to take advantage of the event, and those who travel from around the UK and abroad to be there.
Expect a plethora of new locations brought together under a streamlined wayfinding scheme, plus all the usual events at showrooms, exclusive product launches and talks, as well as some very special OnOffice-related activities.
OnOffice at Brewhouse Yard
One of key locations for this year’s CDW will be OnOffice’s major installation at Brewhouse Yard. Architectural practices Studio Egret West and BDP, which are both based within Brewhouse Yard, have created a multifarious site-specific space.
Studio Egret West’s section from St John Street will use purple – the colour of creativity no less – to produce a memorable welcome. BDP, meanwhile, is producing a complementary ‘urban oasis’.
OnOffice will be supporting the meeting, cafe and social space, with furniture courtesy of Marshalls. This allows visitors to connect to a dedicated wi-fi network, plug into a power source and of course connect with other people. Public space is the new workspace, don’t you know! You can also pick up an exclusively designed OnOffice tote bag, supported by Davison Highley, and a copy of our latest issue.
Brewhouse Yard is easily accessible from St John Street and Great Sutton Street. It’s the perfect spot to start exploring the event from – especially as it’s one of the places around EC1 with a designated registration point (if you didn’t register online beforehand that is).
Herman Miller
Herman Miller will present an environmental installation to celebrate the launch of Keyn, its latest seating range. Held at its pop-up showroom on Clerkenwell Road, the event will give visitors the opportunity to try out the Keyn chair group, a range of meeting and side chairs.
The work of forpeople, a design group which has the likes of British Airways, Boeing, Coca-Cola and Yamaha as clients, Keyn represents the company’s first foray into the office furniture market.
OnOffice editor Helen Parton will be in conversation with forpeople at 3pm on Tuesday 24 May to discover more about their design rationale for Keyn in terms of satisfying the need for furniture for collaborative working environments.
Desso
As part of a packed three-day schedule, Desso has partnered with OnOffice to host a Scarlet Opus trend forecast, sharing the latest thinking on Personalisation and Individuality in Design in an event on the evening of Tuesday 24 May at its Great Sutton Street space. OnOffice will be part of a panel of industry experts, helping to translate how the trends presented relate to commercial interiors.
Other events organised by the flooring specialist include a makers exhibition curated by journalist, author and OnOffice contributor Katie Treggiden and an art installation by Foldability designer Kyla McCallum – dubbed “London’s new queen of origami” – all of which will take place at the Desso showroom.
Milliken
A longstanding showroom partner of CDW, flooring firm Milliken can be relied upon for a wide-ranging series of events and 2016 is no exception. Taking its cues from the punk and street art scene that inspired its latest collection ‘Artistic Liberties’, highlights of its programme at its Berry Street space, include a talk by Pam Hogg (above), who has traversed the worlds of music, fashion and art since the late 1970s. She will be speaking on the evening of Tuesday 24th May.
The next night will see James Cochran, a key mover in the underground graffiti movement speak about his work, which came to the public’s attention when his mural of David Bowie became a shrine to the late rock god. He will be joined by fellow street artist Ben Eine whose alphabet lattering graces shop shutters in Shoreditch, Brick Lane and Broadway Market.
Conversations at Clerkenwell
The event’s popular talks series, Conversations at Clerkenwell, has a new home at the Goldsmiths’ Centre (above) on Britton Street. Expect a similarly stellar line up to previous years including a series of daily breakfast salons on Dutch design, curated by Ineke Hans.
Amongst the rest of the sessions, the one that caught our eye on Wednesday lunchtime was on London versus architecture: a look at London’s shifting clusters. Panellists include former OnOffice cover star Colin Macgadie, creative director of BDG; Primo Orpillo of US workplace designers O+A, Ben Raywood from property firm Savills and Lev Kerimol, principal regeneration officer at the Greater London Authority.
Later that day Tom Dixon discusses material possibilities while the following day our very own columnist Grant Gibson chairs a session on how craft makes the difference.
The three-day event returns to London for a seventh edition this week
