11 minute read
UPFRONT
Judges’ (Re) Call
We’re guessing (and certainly hoping) that a good few of you are currently putting thinking hats on and/ or flexing your design muscles as you put your entries together for the Mixology21 awards – which will also feature 2020’s awards in a special (we hope) one-off 2-for-1 ceremony. Seeing as they couldn’t enjoy their well-earned night out last year, we have decided it was only right to retain our fantastic 2020 awards judges. So, here’s a reminder of who your 2021 entries are going to be judged by.
Mark Simpson
Principal BDP A designer with extensive experience gained from over 30 years in the design industry, Mark began his professional career at BDP in 1985 before co-founding Amalgam in 2003, Mark returned to BDP in 2011 and was appointed to the BDP board in 2017. He is the Chair of BDP’s Design profession and Head of Workplace. Mark writes regularly for the design press and has chaired the judging panel for the Mixology awards since their inception in 2005. He was awarded the Mixology Henry Pugh Outstanding Contribution Award in 2018. BDP was awarded Design Practice of the Year at the Mixology Awards 2019.
Tim Yendell
Global Head of Workplace Transformation BP Tim is Vice President of Workplace Transformation at BP, where he is leading the global transformation of its workplaces and ways of working to support its ambition to pivot from being an international oil company focused on producing resources to an integrated energy company focused on delivering solutions for customers. He is responsible for real estate, capital projects, shared services and workplace transformation and design globally, and is passionate about delivering creative inclusive and dynamic working experiences for people. Tim holds a BA Honours degree in Interior Design from the Edinburgh College of Art.
Katrina Larkin
Co-founder & Head of Experience Fora Katrina is the Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Fora; leaders of the workspace revolution. Since launching in 2017, Fora has opened 13 workspaces across London and Reading, which are used by companies including Nike, Sony, and Dropbox, and is targeting an increase in the use of flexible space as the UK emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, with the opening of a new site in the West End this summer and six further spaces in the pipeline, as well as plans to expand internationally. A pioneer in the festival world, Katrina co-founded The Big Chill Festival, bars and record label.
Jonathan Huckstep
Partner Cushman & Wakefield Jonathan Huckstep joined Cushman & Wakefield in 1984. He specialises in Tenant Rep Office Agency across Central London giving advice to a wide range of occupiers. Jonathan is a Member of the RICS City Branch and a steward for Lionheart (RICS Benevolent Fund). Jonathan has been involved in some of the most significant workplace activity in recent years including: Norton Rose Fulbright, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Simmons & Simmons, Allen & Overy, Macfarlanes.
Alison Wring
Director Aecom Alison is a Director at AECOM, with extensive experience of the property life cycle, from strategic vision, through to planning, delivery, handover, operation and disposal, with a particular talent for engaging the client with the very opportunity that meets their needs. Her passion is creating destinations and paying attention to how we can be more efficient, effective, sustainable and transformational for those using the asset. Her long-term big picture thinking really focuses attention on the workplace/placemaking environment as a positive legacy.
Colin Wood
Director Colliers UK Colin has over 20 years’ experience working in the commercial office sector, helping to deliver innovative and functional spaces where people can thrive. He is a cost management specialist and enjoys being part of the creative design process. As the Head of Occupier Cost Management for Colliers UK, he is helping to deliver great workspaces for clients that inspire their people to do great things.
Sarah Lodge
Strategic FM Lead Cornwall Council Sarah started her FM journey in the record industry many years ago, and has a successful track record in a variety of sectors, from higher education to aviation. In the past decade, Sarah has led project teams delivering HQ relocations for Yahoo, Warner Media and easyJet. Having recently moved to Cornwall, Sarah is now enjoying a change of pace as FM Strategic Lead for Cornwall Council.
Steve Fitch
Managing Director Office Furniture London Steve has been in the furniture industry for over 33 years and has extensive industry knowledge. He has worked for the world’s largest furniture manufacturers as well as top London furniture dealerships, and this has given him an incredible insight into the whole furniture supply process.
Nick Threlfall
Director of Design Regal London Nick is Design Director at Regal London, a leading residential-led, mixed-use property developer. His role is to ensure design quality and consistency across interiors, brand, architecture and public realm. He has previously held senior positions with some of London’s foremost architecture and design firms
London Showroom 25 Bastwick Street, Clerkenwell, EC1V 3PS
TOG Rating
TOG (The Office Group) has collaborated with Note Design Studio to imagine how the workspace of the future looks in the reinvention of Douglas House – a new six-floor office building on London’s Great Titchfield Street. Setting out to create a stimulating work environment to inspire productivity in its users, TOG strived to fill every inch of Douglas House with personality.
The design teams wanted to create a workspace that surprises from the moment of entry, with touches of the unpredictable throughout, to administer what they call a ‘gentle punch’ to all who step in off the street.
‘We wanted to create somewhere that suited a variety of work space styles, that broke with the conformity often associated with the office, and which conveyed a sense of journey and discovery,’ says Nasim Koerting, Head of Design at TOG.
The most striking feature of the design is a curvilinear wall of glass blocks that runs the entire length of the ground floor. As well as creating a physical passage between the rooms at the rear, the wall also connects them visually, with the material intensity and unexpectedly fluid forms echoed in the custom-made lighting rafts.
‘This was a way for us to be disruptive and to challenge the standards of an average refurbishment – to create a space within a space, a world of its own within the old building,’ explains Johannes Karlstrom, Co-founder of Note Design Studio
The glass wall also delineates the interior colour palette; warm woody neutrals and desert shades define the communal spaces and breakout areas, while cooler, softer blues are used in the meeting rooms and working areas where concentration and focus are required. Pops of primary colour come in the form of vivid ultramarine Marenco armchairs and Arflex sofas, with Muller van Severen hanging lamps and powder-coated stools in bold red and blue.
Despite working with a building with extensive wear and tear, TOG and Note agreed, wherever possible, to retain existing materials from the original design. Remarkably, they were able to salvage the building’s existing parquet floors in their entirety, lifting, renovating and replacing every last block.
In keeping with its ‘gentle punch’ and ‘breaking the grid’ concepts, the design teams aimed for a striking contrast between the exterior and interior. Outside, the building’s facade is repetitive and grid-like; inside is an altogether richer, more fluid experience.
Alongside the expected features of a modern workplace – gym, roof terrace and 20 meeting rooms, which comprise 10 informal, collaborative spaces and a traditional boardroom – Douglas House also includes a number of more innovative additions, including a ‘recharge room’ for breakout moments during the working day, a plant-filled ‘oxygen room’ in which to reset and reconnect with nature, a flexible workspace with a café, and a dedicated room for nursing mothers.w
right: Rosie Haslem, Spacelab
Virtual Reality
The Virtual Interiors Event is a brand new online exhibition, which is due to take place on 24-25 February. The event is the brainchild of Sally Rice and Beth Harrison, who boast a combined 35 years’ industry experience.
‘The commercial interiors industry is all about connection: connecting people, connecting with new ideas as well as being tapped in to new products at the forefront of innovation,’ Sally says. ‘We feel The Virtual Interiors Event offers the industry access to all of these and more, regardless of location, travel restrictions or even time zone.’
Sponsored by Chaucer Logistics, CMD and Orangebox (while, we’re delighted to say, Mix Interiors is a media partner), the event features virtual exhibition stands from established manufacturers such as Vitra, KI Europe, Camira and Brunner, alongside smaller firms such as Sileather UK, who produce an eco-friendly, bio-resistant, sustainable faux leather made with 100% silicone. Thought leadership will form a key part of the agenda, with speakers such as HOK’s Director of Workplace, Kay Sargent, discussing neurodiversity and social equity, TEDx speaker Ben Channon on designing for happiness, and Element 4’s Georgia Elliott Smith. Also speaking will be workplace psychology expert, Craig Knight, Spacelab’s Rosie Haslem and designer Anna Hart.
The Virtual Interiors Event uses an online platform that promotes networking and can host one-to-one video calls, virtual exhibition stands and instant messaging within the event. Attendance is free, with a paidfor 30-day ‘On Demand’ ticket also available.w Register to attend at thevievent.com
Tron Legacy
Knightsbridge has partnered with designer Bruce Kenneth to develop a unique collection of furniture for the healthcare sector.
As a regular maker on BBC 1’s programme Money for Nothing, Bruce is an up-and-coming furniture designer with a passion for creating interesting pieces that make a statement. Working in partnership with Knightsbridge’s design team, Bruce has helped to create Tron – a striking new collection of tables and chairs. Inspired by angles and motion, Tron is reminiscent of furniture from the 1950s and 1960s, with a modern twist.
Jason Brown, Director of Design & Development at Knightsbridge, tells us: ‘As a leading furniture manufacturer, we are always looking at pushing boundaries to create pieces that are not only functional for their setting but that look great too. Healthcare furniture doesn’t have to be boring. Bruce has a really unique style and we wanted that at the core of the new collection.’
The new collection includes a high-back lounge chair, mid-back lounge chair, upright chair and 25 occasional and coffee tables available in various shapes and sizes.
‘I have loved working with Knightsbridge; combining expert craftsmanship with quality materials to really bring my designs to life – the end result is just exceptional,’ Bruce enthuses. ‘I have a particular passion for chairs; they can set the tone and change the aesthetic of a room. I feel proud that my work will be helping to create inspiring and comfortable furniture for healthcare settings.’
With more than 80 years’ experience, Knightsbridge provides quality furniture, from concept and design to manufacture and delivery to a number of industries, including healthcare, care, challenging environments, hospitality and workplace.w
Jason Brown & Bruce Kenneth
Zoo by Profim
Pole Position
Having purchased Profim in 2018, Flokk is now ready to introduce the Polish design-led commercial furniture maker to the market. A house of brands, Flokk presents a broad offering of soft seating, acoustic panelling and products, tables and seating for commercial and residential interiors from six impressive brands. The integration of Profim into the Flokk UK offering opens up further opportunities in lower priced projects, without compromise on design. The UK showroom in Clerkenwell will, later in the year reopen with a selection of Profim furniture pieces integrated to showcase the versatility of the products. ‘I’m pleased to be able to finally officially launch this amazing furniture brand to the UK,’ Bernhard VanOmmen,
MD at Flokk UK, tells us. ‘Profim represents everything Flokk stands for – inspiring, sustainable, stylish, quality furniture. Its addition to our family of brands brings with it new perspectives on working environments through its offering of soft furniture, task seating, meeting and visitor solutions and modular systems and tables. Many pieces in the Profim collections open up a range of opportunities in terms of design and placement. We look forward to introducing this impressive brand through our dealer network here in the UK.’ Profim has spent 30 years developing its brand, currently counting more than 900 employees and 10 stand-alone showrooms around Europe. Its manufacturing is based solely in Turek in the heart of the furniture-making region of the Wielkopolska Province. Although Profim sources most of its upholstery fabric in Denmark, all its furniture is produced, assembled and tested on site in Turek. ‘Being a part of the Flokk family is a great opportunity and distinction for
Profim,’ says Piotr Chełmiński, CEO & GM at Profim. ‘We are glad that our seats complement the group’s rich portfolio. I am convinced that the high quality and good design that characterise our products will attract the attention of our customers and meet expectations of those who particularly identify with the Flokk group values.’w
Rediscover Viewlite, your favourite monitor arm
Besides silver and black, our successful Viewlite collection is also available in a lovely satin white colour scheme.
