Despite only being its second year, Clerkenwell Design Week has cemented its position on the global design festivals calendar. With Jaguar sponsoring this year’s event – helping to make it bigger and better – over 25,000 people pounded Clerkenwell’s pavements to check out the 150 events and 60-odd showrooms. The event culminated with the launch of its very own charming periodical; The Clerkenwell Post.
Clerkenwell – London’s EC1 neighborhood – is the city’s undisputed design district, making it the perfect location for hosting an international design event. The programme of installations, launches, debates, open studios and parties is indicative of the pull of the local design community, which no other area in London can match.
CDW is a jam-packed three-day design fest dedicated to the celebration of craftsmanship. Aside from the mix of big brands and exciting newcomers – what sets it apart is that it is possibly the best place to discover new British design talent. From London-based manufacturer Hitch Mylius – celebrating its 40th anniversary – to emerging design studios, including Bark, Dare Studio, Young & Norgate and Another Country, these promising companies are producing some of the most exquisitely made furniture pieces – all handmade in the UK.
Bark is the Cornish-based husband and wife team Lakshmi Bhaskaran, a former design writer, and banker-turned-cabinet maker Jonathan Walter. Each piece of furniture is lovingly made, combining function, practicality and sophistication. The new sideboard and chest of drawers launched at CDW look set to become the heirlooms of the future.
Another company epitomizing the best of British design was Young & Norgate, a Devon-based studio that crafts beautifully timeless pieces that can be adjusted to individual needs, incorporating different woods and coloured finishes, that will age well over time. The walnut desk, complete with leather lined drawers, is particularly desirable.
Another Country has fast established a reputation for its solid wood furniture pieces, that draw on the familiar forms of British country kitchen and Shaker style, with a touch of traditional Scandinavian and Japanese woodwork thrown in. Scottish firm Assemblyroom was also a standout – with its compact but comfortable armchair and sofa collection, upholstered in Bute fabrics. Established in 2010 by Peter Wall & Cathy Spooner to compliment their commercial interior design practice, the company’s design philosophy is to create furniture pieces which are refined and built to last.
Dare Studio’s pieces were also much admired – in particular the walnut Katakana writing desk and matching chair. Designed for use with a laptop, it features special compartments for power supply and management of unsightly wires, plus another clever detail; tapered drawers to keep pens at the front when you open – ingenious! Founded in 2009 by Sean Dare, an accomplished designer with over a decade of experience producing commercially successful designs, the British design company’s mission is to set a benchmark for the best in contemporary design and manufacture
The hub of CDW is the Farmiloe Building on St John Street, where non-Clerkenwell-based design companies can get a slice of the CDW action. Formerly the home of Victorian lead and glass merchants, the sprawling warehouse (which has also been a film set in Batman and Sherlock Holmes) hosted a broad range of installations by emerging and established design brands – including Lee Broom, Pinch, Ligne Roset, Offect and Moooi. To top it off, a group of pop-up design shops by the Design Museum, the Barbican, Dezeen and Thorsten van Elten provided a unique design retail pit stop.
A new venue, The House of Detention provided an additional showcase – and for many, was the highlight of CDW. The existing cells in the former subterranean prison provided ready-made, if atmospheric, exhibition booths, inside which new companies, galleries and college graduates – including The Rad Gallery and the Timorous Beasties – showed off their latest designs and ideas.
Exclusive UK launches at Clerkenwell’s furniture showrooms, revealed scores of new products recently unveiled at the Milan furniture fair – making CDW an extremely well placed preview on the global design circuit. It’s no exaggeration to say that Clerkenwell is the nearest thing that the UK has to the Milan design pilgrimage – in fact, such is the energy surrounding CDW, we might soon be able to forgo Milan’s annual bunfight altogether.
As the division between work, leisure and home becomes increasingly blurred, and many offices and homes becoming more hotel-like in their style and offerings, the next quandary for the furniture industry will be addressing the UK market ‘s generation of renters, as an increasing section of the population have to wait until middle age before feathering their nest.
