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20 Upfront Projects, products and people through a futurecentric lens.

30 Things I’ve learnt Universal Design Studio’s Design Director Suzanne Gaballa offers her insights on showing up as your authentic self and embracing joy in the workplace.

32 Height of design Co-founder of industrial design studio Form Us With Love (FUWL) John Löfgren unveils which item to him represents the pinnacle of design.

34 Living Better Architect, researcher and practicing artist Itai Palti explores the notion that subsidising third spaces promotes a sense of belonging.

36 In conversation with: A-nrd Alessio Nardi and Lukas Persakovas – co-founders of design studio A-nrd – muse about the beauty of making and authentic interpretations.

42 In conversation with: IA Architects IA Interior Architects’ Prabha Jackson and Tim Hardingham speak to the power of diversity and designing with reason.

48 Colour Story Colour Designer and author of The Colour Bible Laura Perryman proposes how colour can be regenerative and help us to connect to nature.

50 Case study: Adobe Shoreditch Celestial nurseries and coffee shop culture, we uncover the inspiration behind Adobe’s new Shoreditch HQ, designed by Gensler.

58 Case study: Cardo Roma Though inspired by Roman heritage, Cardo Roma represents a modern-day hotel concept for business and leisure travellers.

64 Case study: New Acres An expansive new neighbourhood for Wandsworth, Lister + Lister provides a sense of village life at its latest community-centric BTR scheme.

71 Case study: Hyde London City Studio Moren and Ennismore’s latest hospitality offering for the UK capital, Hyde London City reimagines Victoriana for the modern day.

76 Case study: KEF Music Gallery Blending heritage and high-tech for a trailblazing music showroom off London’s Oxford Street.

83 Positive Impact Founder of The Good Plastic Company, Dr William Chizhovsky offers his fresh perspective on our plastic use and reuse.

86 Fast Forward Academic and Author Dez Fitzgerald questions the distinction between the natural and synthetic, asking if there’s that much in it at all.

90 Mix Roundtable with Impact Acoustic What it’s made of: Is materiality the foundation of successful design?

98 Mix Roundtable with Interface Is it enough to just design sustainably?

106 LiGHT

We spotlight the key talks and product launches from LiGHT expo 2024 – the UK’s only trade fair for lighting design and specification.

108 Mix Awards North 2024

We revisit the highlights from this year’s unmissable event and our list of winners and finalists.

132 Building Narrative Patrick McCrae, CEO of Londonbased art consultancy Artiq, explores how ‘psychological safety’ makes for creativity-inspiring workplace environments.

134 Mix Talking Point

How does urban redevelopment affect the local community? We consider if gentrification is a force for good or evil.

138 Material Matters

Creative Director Constantina Tsoutsikou shares the materials at the forefront of Studio LOST’s awardwinning hospitality projects.

139 Material Innovation Netherlandsbased Why Knot Design converts Japanese knotweed from invasive plant species into robust, innovative biomaterial.

140 Innovative Thinking

Steve Gale, head of strategy at M Moser Associates, looks at the ‘new workplace normal’ and if the term means the same for everyone.

Colophon

The cover Designer

Get in touch

Managing Editor Harry McKinley harry@mixinteriors.com

Deputy Editor Chloé Petersen Snell chloe@mixinteriors.com

Editorial Assistant Charlotte Slinger charlotte@mixinteriors.com

Editorial Assistant

Ellie Foster ellie@mixinteriors.com

Managing Director Leon March leon@mixinteriors.com

Account Manager Stuart Sinclair stuart@mixinteriors.com

Account Manager

Patrick Bowley patrick@mixinteriors.com

Account Manager Gaia Cafarella gaia@mixinteriors.com

Project Manager Paul Appleby paul@mixinteriors.com

Head of Operations Lisa Jackson lisa@mixinteriors.com

Advertising and Events Operations Manager Maria Da Silva maria@mixinteriors.com

Art Director Marçal Prats marcal@mixinteriors.com

Founding publisher Henry Pugh

At Conran and Partners, we are committed to creating timeless spaces that tell a story and evoke delight. Focusing on two core materials from Specialist Group – timber and metal – we explored how these materials join and interlock to create remarkable bespoke joinery. By blending European aesthetics with the Asian tradition of expressed joints, we sought to pay homage to both our London and Hong Kong offices.

In 2022, Specialist Joinery Group transitioned to Specialist Group, building upon its award-winning joinery work to develop equally proficient services for bespoke glass and metal manufacturing and installation. The company’s joinery, glass and metal packages can be delivered singularly or in any combination and, in every case, Specialist Group will strive to achieve the perfect dovetailing effect.

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Welcome

This issue straddles both the close of 2024 and the beginning of 2025; a period when we both look back at the year that was and ahead to the year to come. A time then to consider lessons learnt and new beginnings.

Similarly straddling these two concepts is our shiny new podcast series that’s all about, well, lessons: Things I’ve Learnt, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and in video on the Mix Interiors website.

Over the course of my career, I’ve been privileged to speak to some of the design and creative industries’ most insightful and influential figures. Many of those discussions make it to print, here in Mix Interiors. But now, we want to share some of that insight with you in a different format; to give you the opportunity to listen in on the conversation.

Across our first season of Things I’ve Learnt, I’m joined by six disruptive, visionary leaders from the world of design in its broadest sense – experts in everything from architecture and interiors

to artificial intelligence and multi-sensory experiences. By asking them to share what they’ve learnt about creativity, work and life, together we uncover their inspiring personal journeys, discover what makes them tick and gain a deeper understanding of their inner worlds – exploring how their philosophies and work shapes the world around us.

I also know what you might be thinking: ‘super, another podcast’, after all there are plenty of them. But at Mix we’ve taken our time and we didn’t rush in, because we wanted to deliver a podcast of genuine quality and conviction — something I, and you, would actually want to listen to. I hope, with Things I’ve Learnt (this season supported by Impact Acoustic) we’ve achieved that. So do subscribe, check the website for the full list of first season guests and – if you like what you hear – recommend it to your friends and colleagues.

Happy new year,

Harry McKinley Managing Editor

Forever Circular

ARCHISONIC® Cotton is made from natural, renewable materials, and fully circular.

Each acoustic tile is meticulously crafted to be fully recyclable, ensuring that 100% can be seamlessly returned to production at the end of its life.

ARCHISONIC® Cotton comes in a stunning range of 24 natural earth tones curated by Colour Hive trend scouts. No harsh chemical dyes are used.

Learn more at impactacoustic.com or contact us today at uk@impactacoustic.com to help us build a fully circular landscape with your next project.

standardised customisation

Our new ‘wave’ table system marries systemised production with crafted customisation.

The highly adaptable underframe is engineered to carry myriad shapes and sizes of table tops, as well as seamlessly concealing cables and services modules.

Wave after wave of supporting structures with easily removeable convex shaped outer panels make it easy to access power and data from the floor. Not only that, but the design freedom allows the specification of many surface finishes; choose from any one of Brunner’s exclusive IGP steel coatings, wood veneers and Fenix laminates (to match table tops) or even leather (to match surrounding chairs). Design trends such as fluted details can further enhance and bring even more gravitas to a meeting room environment.

‘Wave’ tables float and are gravity defying. A 3.6 metre one-piece top (to accommodate 10 people) requires only 2 supporting structures. A 7.2 metre two-piece top (to accommodate 20 people) requires only 3.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s masterpiece of organic architecture.

A deep understanding of design that works in harmony with the surrounding nature.

Inspired by this icon, we reimagined the high-contrast beauty of threatened English ash to develop four characterful strip wood designs.

From a magnificent, felled specimen of the local landscape, we fashioned Kent Ash, creating an authentic floor perfectly in tune with the world around it.

Contemporary yet naturally deep.

From the rich, textured surface to the intricate grain patterns and bevelled planks.

It creates an effortlessly sense of sophistication.

Get to know the new designs at karndeancommercial.com/whatsnew

IT BEGINS WITH

FALLING WATER

SOFT SEATING

A deep-rooted heritage in soft seating manufacturing.

designer islands

With our Designer Island collections world-renowned artists transform rugs into unique experiences that come in many different textures, shapes and colours.

Rugs created by Monsieur Christian Lacroix and other top designers

Rugs by Ege Carpets

sustainable design at your feet

Incara is a range of functional, ergonomic wiring devices dedicated to any modern, flexible workspace, from office to hotel, café, airport or any other shared working environment.

INCARA™

THE LEADING UK-BASED SPECIALISTS IN THE DESIGN AND SUPPLY OF CERAMIC AND PORCELAIN TILES.

Since 1901, we have proudly designed high-quality wall and floor tiles, preserving our rich history and heritage in the heart of the Potteries, Stoke on Trent. What sets us apart is our experienced in-house design team, who travel the world seeking inspiration and sourcing on trend ceramic and porcelain tile collections to bring to market. Our extensive product portfolio has been featured in interior design projects globally, including residential spaces, education facilities, hotels, hospitals, leisure facilities and commercial developments.

We don’t just design and supply the finest quality products; we also deliver exceptional service. With our unrivalled stock availability, next day delivery, first class customer experience and technical support, you can trust that our 120+ years of expertise ensure all our products and services meet the highest quality standards. We also remain committed to providing sustainable materials and ensuring all partnering factories hold the same values and principles.

Java and Jam

Created as part of last year’s Bethel Woods Art and Architecture Festival, a duad of ribbon-like pavilions billowed on the historic site of Woodstock; part art installation, part kinetic shelter, part tangible demonstration of bio-composites’ use as a legitimate and enduring construction medium.

As their monikers ‘Java’ and ‘Jam’ suggest, spent coffee grounds and white grape skins formed the basis of two plant-based slurries, which were plastered to an undulating plywood chassis and left to sunbake to an impenetrable shell. New Yorkbased I/thee was responsible for the design, the construction undertaken by an international team of students,

professionals and researchers, who congregated to reduce local food waste through digital and handcraft modalities.

Using wattle-and-daub construction, traditional woven walls were replaced by a computationally designed timber lath, while the ‘mud’ daub consisted of biowaste aggregates and sawdust, as well as cultivated straw that the team grew and processed on-site.

Sourced locally from Ithaca’s Gimme Coffee!, Java, the larger of the two pavilions, was covered with coffee grounds blended with sawdust, cut straw and foodgrade adhesive to make the bio-composite mixture. Java’s squatter sibling ‘Jam’ was spread with a white grape pomace.

A byproduct of the wine-making industry, pressed grape skins, seeds and stalks were provided by Damiani Wine Cellars in Burdett. Similarly, these were mixed with portions of sawdust and straw before being emulsified with wheat paste (a non-toxic glue), which sealed the botanic mulch.

In developing Java and Jam, I/thee and the team intended to reroute research trajectories in automated fabrication and to critically question the use of emerging technologies informed by ancient techniques – not as a regressive ideology, but as a way of preserving endangered culture, fostering meaningful labour and promoting circular economy.

Ithee.design

Photography:

Breyden Anderson

IMAGINE YOUR SPACE

Imagine a space where inspiration can run free. A world that tells your own story, every single day. At RAK Ceramics we help create the perfect living space, for you and your loved ones. Imagine your space.

Meadow mall

Upon the site of the previous Lewisham shopping centre, a wild meadow will sit on the roof of a newly constructed retail outlet, representing the heart of a regenerative urban reworking for the townspeople.

Designed by developers LandsecU+I and architects Studio Egret West, the new district will see over half its area given over to public green space, increasing the area’s biodiversity with the help of 300 mature trees and a considered array of plants and shrubbery. In addition, three public squares and much-needed community facilities, such as a 500-capacity music venue and a selection of independent food vendors, are set to give Lewisham’s high street a new lease of life.

An additional pedestrianised street will run from the ground to the upper levels, granting access to the al fresco dining options and 1,700 new homes situated there. Of the residential wings, a minimum of 20% will be affordable, 660 student beds and 445 co-living residences.

Alongside LandsecU+I and Studio Egret West, a cohort of local designers informed the design and planning of the proposal as well as several rounds of public engagement. Over the past three years, thousands of local people have visited the dedicated No.25 consultation hub inside the 1970s-built precinct, highlighting their aspirations for the London borough they call home. The pipeline project will not only see a surge in employment opportunities for the wider town centre but is slated to become a destination shopping district for southeast London and beyond.

Off the rails

A permanent, fully functioning rollercoaster has been installed in Swedish creative agency The Great Exhibition’s studio in Stockholm, marking a global first for workplace design. Named ‘The Frontal Lobe’ – the part of the brain responsible for memory, solution-finding and creativity – the rollercoaster reflects the brand’s moving away from digitalisation to experiences anchored firmly in the physical realm.

Twisting through the ground floor communal areas, the 60-metre-long track operates on a continuous loop, curving through storage spaces, around the dining table and past the central bathroom facilities, before returning to

its initial starting point. Raised on steel supports bolted to the floor, it achieves heights of four metres from the ground to rise over the building’s entrance, thanks to a custom-made, integrated cranking mechanism. Where the rails and supports are red-lacquered steel, the single person car juxtaposes otherwise stripped back interiors with its highly polished, silver body.

"The idea of adding a rollercoaster to our office started years ago as what many people would call an impossible dream, fun but unfeasible, and honestly, a little ridiculous," Creative Director Per Cromwell says. Having no prior knowledge of engineering,

The Great Exhibition worked alongside numerous theme park designers, design consultants and backyard rollercoaster communities to realise their big ambitions for a small square footage.

Formerly known as PJADAD, the studio has spent 15 years providing film, art and objects for some of Sweden’s largest companies. Now, as The Great Exhibition, the brand welcomes a new era – one that shifts from the predictable patterns of technology-driven content towards curate realities that resonate emotionally; a playful, human touch in the age of AI and algorithms.

tge1851.com

Photography: Noah Fernström

Good enough to drink

Architect Elisabeth Lee of not-for-profit organisation Project Mingde lead the charge on the design of Duling Educational Centre, with the sole purpose to bring clean drinking water to the neighbouring school and wider community of Guangxi. A puzzle piece in an ongoing initiative to tackle the poverty crisis in rural southern China, Project Mingde was aided by University of Hong Kong’s civil engineering students to build a nursery and community centre that effectively recycled the region’s excess rainwater.

Duling's challenging climate meant its 3000 residents contended with bouts of severe flooding throughout the year, leading to drastic sanitation issues and freshwater shortages. Scarcity resulted in an environment that was inadequate for the health of schoolchildren and their families, with fundamental hygiene measures reliant on fresh, running water being absent before the recent construction.

Mirroring the formation of the site’s surrounding rice paddies, the three cascading plinths that culminate the roofscape are positioned to channel rainfall into an idyllic lotus pond at the ground level. From there, water is siphoned into an underground filtration system, before being distributed into the building for use. On average, the system supplies 1,500 litres of purified rainwater each day for drinking, cleaning tasks and general bathroom maintenance, ensuring the wellbeing and safety of generations.

Below, the new complex, complete with central courtyard, houses a crèche, teacher’s dormitories and a series of indoor and open-air community spaces to gather. Home of the Hakka community, a people indigenous to the district of Guangxi, the transitional function of the interiors – childcare facility in the daytime and public event space come evening – as well as the passive design of the water harvesting roof, both embody the Hakka principle of ‘fluidity of community life.’

Photography: Jin Weiqi

Gravity-defying gardening

In the beating heart of São Paulo, a 25-storey trellis tower has been constructed, featuring design by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner Jean Nouvel and interiors by renowned Parisian industrialist Philippe Starck.

Soaring 100 metres above street level, the Mata Atlantica Tower is home to Rosewood São Paulo resort’s short and long stay accommodations, drastically juxtaposing the main building, a low-rise Italianate structure that was once the maternity wing of the Matarazzo hospital in the 1950s. Between the newly renovated 20thcentury building – comprising lobby, dining

facilities and select guestrooms – and the contemporary lattice-clad tower, the luxury hotel is uniting the Brazilian city’s storied past, urban present and sustainable future.

Owing its name to the Atlantic rainforest that perimeters Brazil’s coast, Nouvel’s proposal sought to repopulate the indigenous flora lost to deforestation and urbanisation with this framework of 720 timber and Corten steel brises. Handpicked as part of a biodiversity programme, approximately 10,000 individual trees and plant species have been strategically placed to engulf the entire chassis, creating an oxygenating

beacon for the city, as well as a sense of continuity between the tower and the adjacent Cidade Matarazzo Park.

Gradually stepping inwards, spaces for balconies and large roof gardens have been carved out for the 114 guest rooms and 100 private Rosewood Suites available for purchase. Positioned close to the major Avenida Paulista thoroughfare, the site suffers the same air pollution from fuel emissions of any modern-day city, however, these exterior elevations mark a conscious shift towards urban greening, providing privacy, solar shading and green oases for residing tenants.

Suzanne Gaballa

Things I've learnt

Suzanne Gaballa is design director at Universal Design Studio, leading projects spanning master planning, luxury interiors and future living concepts. Gaballa is committed to fostering the creativity and talents of the next generation and is currently a lecturer at The Bartlett, UCL.

universaldesignstudio.com @universaldesignstudio

Be true to who you are.

Everyone has different strengths, passions and interests. Learning to understand what your preferred communication method is is essential to help you communicate and deliver your concept and narrative. Authenticity is key to help me develop meaningful relationships that enable trust between colleagues and clients. Don’t pretend to be someone else – work in a studio that lets you be you.

Learn to manage stress and pressure.

Organise, prioritise and plan between work pressure, life commitments and rest. My calendars are my saviour, everything is recorded from meetings to tasks. Each calendar is visible to others, so that family items are aligned and so too are work commitments. This helps aid communication and reduce stress that often leads to conflict. Finding your method to help manage work as a part of your daily life is key to work life balance. I’ve seen others burn out and it’s easy for work to be all-consuming. Exercise is an important outlet to help me switch off and focus, as you must be in the moment when playing. Planning key breaks throughout the year also allows me to explore, be inspired and decompress.

Go with your gut.

Often, we are brought on board for our value and professional opinion, so don’t be afraid to speak up. Remember we are all human; people make mistakes and we are all learning. Learning to communicate in a clear, concise and confident manner takes practice, but it helps you gain authority.

Listen and collaborate.

So much of what we do is through collaboration and coordination – by listening to others we can continue to learn and together create projects and experiences to be proud of. All projects happen through collaboration and teamwork, and it allows for each project to be unique. We often suggest different partners for each project, from the marketing and branding of the company through to the technical integration and neuroscience of spaces. Don’t hesitate to put forward suggestions to help enrich every project.

The importance of joy.

One key element of enjoying what I do is being ambitious, curious and surrounding myself with positive people. Working between practice and teaching in academia allows me to continue to learn and be inspired in my day-to-day. Life is short, and work is a large part of our time – it’s important to make informed choices to help you reach your goals. Don’t be afraid to take risks and to not take yourself too seriously. My kids help me remember the importance of play and having fun.

John Löfgren

The height of design

John Löfgren is co-founder of Form Us With Love (FUWL), an industrial design studio based in Stockholm, Sweden. Partnering with brands from Muuto and +Halle to Ikea and Samsung, the studio underpins all its work with a clear focus on betterment for people, business and planet.

formuswithlove.se

@formuswithlove

The item

The wing corkscrew.

Why does this item represent the ‘height of design’ for you?

The wing corkscrew’s super utilitarian design is pure functionality – it’s about opening something that is fixed; it’s a tool to remove the cap of a container that can’t be extracted with your bare hands. It is one of the oldest types of wine openers that is still in use today. To use it, you’ll need to screw the metal worm into the cork and then push both wings down to pop the cork out. This has always been a sweet exercise, due to the low amount of physical performance needed to get the cork out and the joy you get on the other end of using the tool. It’s nice to handle, look at and to use.

How does it inspire you or your work?

To draw inspiration from pure function always been intriguing for us at FUWL. How can something rational and purely functional drive aesthetics – no matter if it’s a perforated pattern in a metal cabinet, or in the way wood-wool cement boards behave when milled and placed on a wall as a sound absorber?

What do you think has been the impact of this item?

The corkscrew has been spreading joy and festive moods since, well, forever! The first sign of the artefact is from a painting from 1495.

The personal connection

When the screw sinks into the cork until it perforates it and through a final necessary pulling effort, the cork comes out of the bottle with a light cluck. The cork is extracted and sniffed to check how it smells. ‘God’s nectar’ is now ready to be served and tasted. We are all used to uncorking bottles in this way, it is a common and spontaneous gesture that allows us to access one of our life’s pleasures, usually together with loved ones.

The business of belonging: why third spaces deserve subsidies

How many familiar faces do you see in your day-to-day? Not family, friends or colleagues, but those fleetingly familiar faces you might greet with a smile at your local café, gym or coworking hub. These brief interactions, known as ‘weak ties’, may seem inconsequential, yet their role in promoting wellbeing and a sense of belonging is increasingly recognised.

The spaces that foster these connections can be public, like libraries or parks, but more often they’re found in accessible and welcoming semi-public or private venues. Despite their significant contribution to public health and social cohesion, third spaces are not treated as public goods in the same way that traditional social services are – even when their societal impact is similar.

The benefits of betterconnected communities extend far beyond individuals. Businesses operating in neighborhoods with vibrant third spaces often enjoy increased customer loyalty and foot traffic, which supports broader economic growth.

These spaces contribute to cultural vibrancy, foster inclusivity and even help reduce crime rates by creating environments where people feel safe and connected.

Publicly funded third spaces, such as libraries and community centres, already demonstrate their value by reducing isolation and strengthening community ties. Commercial third spaces complement these efforts by providing a broader range of environments for people to gather. However, during economic downturns, commercial third spaces are often the first to close, leaving communities without vital hubs of connection when they are needed most.

This reliance on profit to sustain essential social spaces puts communities at risk. Subsidies could provide a solution, ensuring the financial viability of these spaces while allowing them to prioritise their social mission over profitdriven concerns. Government subsidies for commercial third spaces could operate similarly to those for public parks or libraries, helping reduce costs,

improve accessibility, and expand to underserved areas. To support such a model, third spaces could adopt standardised ways of demonstrating their societal value, much like social service programs do. By tracking and reporting on performance metrics – such as visitor frequency, user diversity, and measurable community outcomes – these spaces could provide compelling evidence of their impact.

Simple tools, such as user surveys, community impact assessments and real-time feedback mechanisms, could be embedded into digital interactions with customers. Aggregating this data would allow policymakers and funding bodies to clearly see the role third spaces play in building stronger, more resilient communities.

Investing in third spaces is, ultimately, an investment in a more connected, inclusive society. By extending subsidies to commercial third spaces, we can affirm their value not only as businesses but as vital community assets that deserve protection and support.

Itai Palti is a practicing architect, researcher, and multidisciplinary artist focusing on the relationship between people and place. He is Director of Hume, a science-informed architecture and urban design practice.

SERENE

Words: Chloé Petersen Snell

Photography: Courtesy of A-nrd

Sense of craft

A-nrd’s

Alessio Nardi and Lukas Persakovas

on authentic interpretations, the beauty of making and why bigger doesn’t always mean better.

As many of our readers will attest, putting together a design scheme is no small feat – juggling a sea of parts to be managed, sourced and amended. Add to this designing and commissioning bespoke furniture and lighting from scratch, and you require a very special type of person.

A-nrd’s Alessio Nardi and Lukas Persakovas are two such types. Studying product and industrial design in Italy and London, Nardi spent his formative years working in product design and installation, eventually joining Lee Broom where his appreciation of interior design and craft began to evolve – offering him the opportunity to begin designing interiors projects across hospitality and retail. Persakovas had a similar start, born to creative parents in Lithuania, with an education in industrial design, also shifting from product to spatial design. Stars aligned and the pair came

together as colleagues at Uxus, working on large-scale retail and hospitality projects, including Bloomingdales and Tate Modern’s retail store. Nardi left Uxus shortly after, hungry to start his own studio in London – launching A-nrd in 2015 and inviting Persakovas to join as creative partner three years later.

While these big retail projects and studios gave them structure and experience, the hospitality work they craft as A-nrd is more intimate, authentic and familiar. “Retail is more about how you present and sell a product – hospitality is about forming a mood and environment,” explains Persakovas, “you’re selling an atmosphere.”

“The big difference moving from a big agency is the ability to have control and be very hands-on,” notes Nardi. “It makes an impact on the end project; we spend so much time refining every detail – running

to vintage markets to add finishing touches. When you see the final result, it’s so much more rewarding.”

The pair work on each project together, Nardi more recently taking on the client side as the studio’s workload grows, and Persakovas focusing on the design and production. “I think you kind of end up working as one human being, rather than separately,” says Persakovas, “and when we encounter something that is clearly a ‘no’ for us, we don't feel the need to discuss it extensively.” Nardi laughs, “We’re very aligned; it’s rare that we disagree on something.”

Alongside an expanding team, the duo have worked on a expansive portfolio of noteworthy restaurants, as well as their first hotel project at Birch Selsdon – describing their work as an authentic interpretation, inspired by art, architecture and local culture. Their first project together, and perhaps the most formative, was central London

restaurant KOL, offering the opportunity to showcase their combined experience by designing not only the interiors, but every piece of furniture and lighting too. The pair describe the project as their biggest achievement, opening doors to many subsequent restaurant schemes. “It showed that we can manage that scale and we’re not just two guys in a kitchen, like we were at the start,” Persakovas laughs.

Working with Chef Santiago Lastra, A-nrd fused ‘Mexican soul with British ingredients’ into KOL; the interiors embraced Mexican heritage through stucco walls, reclaimed wood and traditional artistry, including Mexican designer Fernando Laposse’s corn husk artwork, showcasing the studio’s passion for craft and making.

“We always create a narrative but we don’t want to create a thematic restaurant; it feels over-designed, a little fake,” says Nardi. “We take the cues from our research and create our own language. It

has a reference, but feels authentic.” “When we visit and research Mexico, we take all this information and recreate that feeling that stays with us,” expands Persakovas. “When we start designing, it’s like an intuitive translation of culture.”

Chef Lastra returned to the studio for the recently opened Fonda restaurant in Mayfair, named for the informal eateries found around Mexico. The project celebrates native arts and crafts, including a joyful pink sloth that hangs languidily from the ceiling, also created by Fernando Laposse and crafted from agave fibers, a traditional and sustainable alternative to plastic. It’s these touches that make A-nrd’s spaces so memorable and, ultimately, successful.

We’re sat in a working represenation of A-nrd’s work, the newly opened Lina Shoreditch, a former bank turned restaurant, raucous with the lunchtime rush. In many cases the building’s features determine where the team start from and build around, and Lina is no

exception: rustic plaster walls with dark wooden furniture and the classic Lina turquioise blue. Downstairs is Bar Lina, a subterranean aperitivo bar drenched in burgundy paint and velvet, complete with a semi-private booth in the bank’s original vault.

The shift from big studios dominating the industry to opportunities for smaller studios has been transformative for A-nrd, allowing large-scale brands like Lina to blend their vision with the studio’s unique DNA. “It gives them a point of difference from other brands,” says Nardi, “especially in competitive markets like London and New York. Lina didn’t give us any brand guidelines, apart from the colour green and even then it was flexible – just green, not specifically ‘Lina’ green. It’s exciting.”

Different hues of green fill the space, including curvy banquettes in stripes and velvet, designed by the team alongside marble-topped tables, mirrors and even the statement lighting, inspired by Carlo Mollino.

“When we start designing, it’s like an intuitive translation of culture.”

Previous page:

Portrait by Adam Lynk

Far left: KOL, photography

Maureen Evans

Left: Bar Linda, photography

Felix Spector

Above: KOL, photography

Charlie McKay

Right: Fonda, photography

David Cleveland

“Our biggest lesson has been to stay true to ourselves.”

Despite its challenges, designing their own furniture allows the duo to bring nuanced detail to their projects – from pieces discretely inspired by the stilted houses of Thailand at Thai restaurant Kolae to the 1970s-Italian-inspired bar stools at Lina.

“We can give something unique to our clients, something they can own. From a sustainability point of view, it allows us to respect the building and focus on zoning pieces,” says Nardi. “It’s a lot of pressure but allows us to have more freedom in our work. We are the point of contact between the client and the manufacturer, so if something goes wrong, it falls on you.

It’s challenging, but worth it.”

“The challenge is also navigating through differences and similarities,” expands Persakovas. “we don’t want them to look like they were all bought from the same showroom, but they need to work together and be unique to each client.”

In Croydon, part hotel, part members club Birch Selsdon was the studio’s first hotel project – a lesson in scale and the importance of like-minded clients. As usual the studio’s approach was as environmentally conscious as possible, the listed building’s existing infrastructure adapted and repurposed where possible, A-nrd peeling back layers of history while adding their own unique touches across the many areas.

“It was a big step up in terms of scale,’ says Nardi, “but also a different type of hospitality. There were so many differenct spaces with different functions and purposes, and it was fun to connect them all, creating different moods but also creating a common thread that ran through each of them.”

Bringing ideas from past projects like KOL, the duo worked with artists and makers to create a “juxtaposition of styles” between the old and new, including collaborating with Sebastian Cox to create furniture sustainably crafted from timber harvested from the estate’s land to support the hotel’s rewilding initiative, led by Cox.

“Some projects we get pushed back,” Nardi adds, “the clients hesitant about using materials from makers they aren’t familiar with. [Birch’s] founders were very excited about these elements – the makers, the collaborations. It was very personal to them and so we could really push the boundaries.”

With three more hotels, a product collaboration and even a workspace in the pipeline –and despite the growing demand – Persakovas and Nardi are keen to keep their London studio deliberately small. “We’ve been doing what we like to do and clients have found us – rather than trying to complement everyone and fit in to a certain agenda,” Persakovas says. “Our biggest lesson has been to stay true to ourselves.”

Above

Below:

Far left: Kolae, photography Eleonora Boscarelli

left: Lina Shoreditch, photography Adam Firman

Birch Selsdon, photography Adam Lynk

Right:

The Snug at Birch Selsdon

A human touch

IA Interior Architects’ Prabha Jackson and Tim Hardingham on designing with reason, the power of diversity and making a positive impact.

Words:

Chloé Petersen Snell

Photography:

Courtesy of IA Interior Architects

IA Interior Architects’ London studio is on the top floor of a 1930s former clothing factory in the heart of Clerkenwell; a typically-IA combination of neutral tones, plenty of natural light and materials, all accentuated by a towering exposed pitched roof. The open plan layout is broken up into smaller breakout spaces, including a mezzanine and loft, creating a sense of both intimacy and scale. “Designing your own studio is a bit of a poisoned chalice that nobody wants,” says design director Prabha Jackson as we explore, “but the goal was to create a space that truly reflects our identity – a place designed not just for work, but for community and connection. It offered us the chance to experiment with spaces in a way that resonated with our experiences and aspirations.”

With managing director Tim Hardingham, we gather in the ‘Shed’, a wooden meeting room crafted in the classic child-like proportions of a house. Indeed the space, designed post-COVID, imitates the warmth and comfort of home, enticing the IA team back to collaborate together in person. The office is something of a testcase, and, despite the lack of colour, is far from a white box. “From a sustainability point of view too, there’s no need to be frivolous,” Jackson notes. “Good design should be functional and have a reason; less is more.”

For Jackson, a first generation Brit from Coventry, design was an unusual industry to get into when she started 25 years ago. “I was breaking new ground in terms of the the work areas that [people with an Asian background] were going into,

exploring something different,” she says. “I still feel like there isn’t enough minority representation in workplace design and construction.” It’s this diversity Jackson and Hardingham are keen to foster as leaders of IA Interior Architect’s London outpost, now 28-strong.

“That’s one thing we really celebrate about our studio, the diversity – people, age ranges and demographics, from Europe to North America. I like to think that there's somebody represented from all around the world. That's quite unusual in many ways; we learn a lot from each other, not just culture, but how we approach work – and that makes us stronger and unique as a business.”

Battling a lack of diversity and the 90s recession, Jackson attended Kent Institute of Art and Design, graduating into a bleak job market – “I must have sent out 100 CVs in the post” – eventually landing in Notting

Hill for a four-week summer job, arriving in a smart suit to overhaul the studio’s library. She wasn’t disappointed.

“They showed me the ropes and introduced me to the industry and Notting Hill in the 90s, which, as a youngster from Coventry, was like nothing I’d ever seen,” she says. “The idea of London always scared me, so I thought ‘I'll do this for six months’. But that four weeks turned into four years, and I really made the most of my time there.”

Her next step was Broadway Malyan, working under an inspiring, yet harsh, director. “He thought things were boring and that we should try harder – and he would tell us that. Sometimes you need to hear it,” she laughs. “That’s what I like about design, it’s the challenge. When you have a white sheet of paper in front you, a blank canvas, it’s the challenge of what that could be. Back then you would rarely really question what a space’s purpose

was going to be, it was more about what we thought looked amazing – and, looking back, it was all somewhat overly designed. Now, one of the first things we do is try to understand the needs of those who will be using it, whether that’s from a user perspective or a visitor perspective.”

Hardingham, with a background in industrial design, spent his formative years designing furniture, his career eventually taking him into interior design at a prominent architecture practice. During that time he helped to establish the European Architects Alliance – a collective of practices working with clients across Europe. It was then he became acquainted with IA, who were eager to leverage the EAA network to deliver European projects for their U.S. clients. Years later, Hardingham “came home” to IA shortly after Jackson, both helping to grow the London outpost into the respected practice it is today.

Over the years IA has worked with some of the biggest names in business, a long list of redacted names from tech to finance. The duo recall some of the most challenging and rewarding, including a global financial client office in Farringdon, designing an enormous 6,000

“Good design should be functional and have a reason –less is more.”

Image on previous page: Portrait by Ed Reeve

Below left: Sterling Bay, photography Tom Harris

Above left: 816 Congress, photography Andrea Calo

Below right: Photography by Donal Murphy

workstations – a scale the team had never tackled before. With over 20 consultants and numerous stakeholders, collaboration was essential. “We were small fish in a big pond,” says Jackson. “The challenge was balancing flexibility, functionality and human-centric design across these vast floor plates. How do you make a sea of workstations feel human? It was like stepping into a football field,” she laughs.

Agile and breakout spaces were speckled throughout, which, seven years ago, was out of the norm – particularly in the stuffy world of finance. “We really enjoyed working with different manufacturers to come up with work solutions that didn’t necessarily exist in the work market yet. It was progressive in many ways, and definitely made me think in a different way.”

As such, the self-confessed furniture geeks are able to ensure the studio’s designs meet both functional and design needs, seeking out new innovations and collaborating with key partners. “I always thought as I got older it would become more about delivering projects and less about design,” Jackson considers, “but I’m lucky to say that hasn’t happened. It’s important to stay connected with all the people that facilitate that end product. If you're not aware about what's available in the market, it’s easy to get left behind.”

As a global company IA celebrated 40 years in 2024, the London studio standing alone outside of North America since 1999; its connected global presence and diversity perhaps the secret behind its success and longevity. “It’s really about staying adaptable and focused,” continues Jackson. “We always try to embrace new ideas and technologies to keep our designs fresh and effective in the

“The spaces we created became places people genuinely wanted to be.”

Below:

Global investment firm, photography

changing world, and of course we would be nothing without our team, London and globally. What matters most is the people: people are the most important part of our job. We believe in a collaborative, diverse culture and that in turn fuels creativity and strengthens our relationship with our clients – and that’s what has helped us grow and evolve together over the years.”

The pipeline is buoyant, including a campus for a global e-commerce and tech client in Cape Town, the sister of a previous campus in Romania. The project’s focus is community and creating a positive impact in the surrounding area – creating an uplifting space for individuals from challenging backgrounds and enhancing their daily quality of life. “The spaces we created became places people genuinely wanted to be,” says Hardingham. “By working with local artists, we were able to weave in elements from the cultures around

us, making the workplaces feel authentic and deeply rooted in their environment. These projects were not only significant for us as a studio, but also had a real impact on the communities they serve.”

This sentiment is echoed in the studio’s charity work, partnering with charities like the Stephen Lawrence Trust and Blueprint for All, a charity creating opportunitues for disadvantaged young people, and working with schools and communities on a pro-bono basis – recently collaborating with manufacturers and contractors to deliver a school library using donated surplus furniture. “These are people that we want to invest in,” Jackson explains. “Of course, our main goal as a business is to thrive and serve our clients. But this sort of outreach gives us the opportunity to give something back to the community. They bring fresh energy, that excitement. I just wish I could bottle it.”

Left: Evite Glendale, via Likeness Studio

Relja Ivanic

Right: Q2 HQ, photography

Peter Molick

Regenerative Colour: a way to reconnect with nature

Laura Perryman is a colour designer and forecaster with over 18 years of experience in CMF design across multiple industries. The author of The Colour Bible, she is interested in material and sensorial experiences of colour. She directs Colour of Saying, a UK-based colour and material futures consultancy.

colourofsaying.com @colour_of_saying

Extractive human activities are pushing our climate and natural ecosystems to the brink. As designers and consumers, we must embrace our ethical and ecological responsibilities to the planet and the ecosystems that sustain us.

Colour is not merely a design element, it is deeply intertwined with nature. Since the dawn of humanity, we have sourced pigments from minerals, plants, roots and fungi. Today, as we synthesize dyes and commodify colour, we must recognise the significance of our daily choices and their profound impacts.

As a colour consultant and insights specialist, I diligently research natural and textile waste pigments, circular dyes and biotechnologies. It’s my mission to champion alternative colour choices for my clients. Countless sustainable dyes and pigments, derived from nature – such as purple-producing bacteria and shades from food waste – offer us a path forward. We can no longer take from nature without giving back; we urgently need a bold, alternative approach to nurture a new spectrum of colour.

An ethical approach to colour and materials demands our attention to provenance, process, energy consumption, and impact as interconnected

facets of a complex, living system. Ethical colours must evoke emotional experiences as rich and compelling as those offered by unsustainable options to replace them successfully. As designers and tastemakers, we possess the power to shape brighter futures. Our response to the intricate challenge of circularity requires us to embrace, optimise and promote a new aesthetic where colour evolves organically.

To achieve true regeneration, human systems and planetary systems must align to coexist and cooperate. Green or eco design has focused on minimising harm to nature and integrating more natural elements into our environments – seen in innovations like living walls and carbon-capturing paint. However, true regenerative design calls us to do more – we must implement restorative systems that not only enhance natural ecosystems but also coexist with them and repair past damage.

The question arises: how do we start with colour? We must operate with unwavering care, forging deep connections with the resources available on our own doorsteps. At London Design Festival 2024, my studio, Colour of Saying, led a series of active and participatory public workshops. We crafted locally foraged palettes in collaboration

with leading regenerative practitioners, showcasing how we can harness neglected native plants to create beautiful coloured dyes. This initiative empowered local designers, makers and consumers to reconnect with nature. Throughout this process, we adopted a code of conduct, learning how to gather pigmentproducing stems and leaves sustainably, fostering a naturepositive approach. Though this may seem small, cultivating care is essential for the wellbeing of future generations.

By uniting natural processes with human ingenuity, bioengineered colour represents a ground-breaking field characterised by dynamic partnerships between designers and scientists. Bacterial ‘living colour’ can be biosynthesized directly onto textile fibres within closedloop systems at scale, while pigments derived from fungi provide desirable qualities such as lightfastness, antioxidation and UV protection. These innovations will undoubtedly ripple through the built environment. The benefits of these solutions are clear: they inflict far less harm on humanity and the planet. Holistic colour processes that respond with intelligence and sensitivity to ecological and social challenges illuminate the path toward more responsible design practices.

A creative cosmos

Words:

Charlotte Slinger

Photography: Vigo Jansons

Those familiar with our capital city will know the thriving tech community that has formed around Old Street Roundabout since 2008, with global corporations including Google, Microsoft, Facebook and BT all establishing UK flagships in East London’s Tech City. Also affectionately called Silicon Roundabout –the self-deprecating sister to America’s Silicon Valley –Adobe UK joined this roster of household names in 2017, setting up shop in White Collar Factory. Almost eight years later, Adobe sought to expand this outpost and tailor

it to a post-pandemic world, inviting the neighbourhood’s creative spirit and trendy coffee culture inside.

Responsible for the first iteration of Adobe Shoreditch, global architecture and design firm Gensler was again tapped to expand and reinvigorate the London HQ. This expansion started at a unique time for most businesses, when offices were reopening and new staff were being hired, giving Adobe the chance to step back and consider the purpose of its workplaces. The focus was

Image on previous page: In-house coffee bar and event space

Below: Ground floor reception desk

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Adobe Shoreditch Case Study

therefore to extend the brand’s visibility out into the local community, creating a vibrant, colour-drenched ‘shop window’ of sorts – helping the space feel more connected to the surrounding tech network. A major inspiration for this was Shoreditch’s plethora of cool cafés and brunch spots. “A lot of our salespeople were regularly meeting with customers at coffee shops, or going to work at cafés during the pandemic,” explains Noelle Borda, senior manager of workplace design and Innovation at Adobe. “There’s a warmth there, a welcoming environment where people feel comfortable to connect; so, we liked the idea of extending the neighbourhood into our workplace with real intention.”

The first step in creating this neighbourhood feel was relocating the reception from the eighth floor, creating a stronger, more captivating presence visible from the pavement outside. Aiming to keep interventions and unnecessary waste to a minimum, Gensler took this relocation literally by refreshing the original reception desk and moving it to a new street-facing entrance at ground level. “We always try to take a completely fresh perspective with every new project, because it's important to us that we not only capture the global Adobe brand, but really try and localise spaces,” outlines Becky Spenceley, design director at Gensler. “I think this local, inclusive feel is becoming more important than ever.”

Gensler worked closely with Shoreditch employees to create a space that reflects their needs. “The joy of my job is being able to create things for our people that they would create for themselves, if they could,” smiles Borda. “So, we ran the gamut with surveys, focus groups and interviews to really understand how our people wanted to work in this new space

Left: Bookable focus pods

Right: The Nook for quiet reflection

Left: Collaborative presentation space

Centre: Staff lounge with soft seating

Right: Conference room overlooking Old Street Roundabout

and how they wanted to host clients and customers.” The resounding feedback was a desire for more multifunctional shared spaces, rather than banks of desks or traditional work zones. The ground and mezzanine levels therefore became a hub for collaboration and connection, with an in-house café offering barista classes, a rotation of guest coffees from local suppliers and an event space to host networking or influencer events. Gensler also catered towards a broader range of work styles by including a library with acoustic phone booths, bookable focus pods and The Nook, a reading space with shelves of coffee table books and hospitality-inspired décor. Other spaces are used as pilots or testbeds that will adapt over time, such as the pitch room, a space with AV equipment and curved seating booths currently used for workshops, whiteboarding sessions, pitch training and QBRs.

Spenceley’s team was inspired by space when crafting a design scheme, specifically the concept of nebulas: cosmic ‘nurseries’ where stars are formed. “We love to create meaning and a strong narrative through our concepts,” she explains. “For me, that's really what grounds the project as it helps to give reason to our design decisions.” The studio envisioned a place for birthing new ideas, reflecting this with a base palette of dark blues and teals, layered with lighter pastels and shocks of neon green from circular floor-to-ceiling installations and graphic wayfinding – all colours associated with energy and creativity. As well as these new design features, Gensler also made the most of the building’s character wherever possible, keeping all of the original light fixtures, raw concrete columns and exposed steel ceiling beams. “It's really lucky when you get a design project like this, where the base build is so great to work with, because you actually just want to celebrate it,” says Spenceley. “From the outset, we said that

didn’t want to cover up anything we didn’t have to.” Continuing this sustainable, light-touch approach, Gensler also opted for acoustic panels and carpeting with a high recycled content, furniture from local supplier Rawside and a recycled tabletop in the café space by Smile Plastics.

Utilising its specialist brand design team, Gensler drew from Adobe’s products –namely, stock imagery from international digital artists – to create experiential graphics throughout. Also on display are a host of artist collaborations, including a piece by Chris Wood Light for Adobe Summit that spells Adobe in binary code using dichroic film pieces. Already buzzing with a lively culture, the Shoreditch hub can now happily accommodate its 800-strong team, with a live map that tracks occupancy rates and how often staff use the onsite facilities –including the verdant roof terrace, which is surrounded by a circular running track for Adobe’s resident athletes.

Flooring

Clerkenwell

Rug Studio

Furniture

Davison Highley

Deadgood

Naughtone

Herman Miller

Surfaces

Acoufelt

Smile Plastics

Solus Ceramics

La dolce vita

Cardo Roma draws on the heritage of the Italian capital, while presenting a next generation hotel concept that seamlessly blends business and leisure.

Words: Harry McKinley

Photography: courtesy of Cardo Roma

For much of 2024 Rome has been a building site – it’s most famed landmarks obscured by reams of scaffolding or speckled with jolts of eye-piercing yellow; the high-visibility vests of workers cleaning and restoring. It’s all part of the effort to revitalise and rejuvenate the city ahead of the 2025 ‘Holy Year’, a time of special significance for Roman Catholics, with visitor numbers expected to exceed a staggering 35 million.

Outside of Rome’s historic core, another less-familiar, and certainly less holy, landmark has also been given new life – a modernist architectural marvel, designed by Lucio Passarelli and completed in 1978 For years this sweep of concrete – all straight lines and gleaming white – was a nothing-to-write-home-about Sheraton, a fatigued conference hotel that was all work and no play. Now, it has been reimagined as a design-led lifestyle property, the first of the new Cardo brand and part of Marriot Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection.

Designed by the Amsterdam-based Saar Zafrir, and his SZ Design Studio, Cardo Roma is a 324-key property that blends ‘business with pleasure’ and which aims to be a symbol of ‘future nostalgia’, mixing references to Rome’s ancient history with evocative nods to 1970s and 1980s Italian glamour.

“Rome is a city where history seeps through every stone and it was crucial for the design to reflect this,” explains Zafrir. “It was important that the hotel felt connected to the essence of Rome but with a modern twist, bridging the past and the present for our guests.”

The architecture then, arguably long underappreciated and under-showcased, provided a compelling starting point in the building of a new narrative. Though modernist, it has a classically Roman sensibility and Zafrir was keen from the outset to lean into the tension between old and new, ‘respecting the building’s legacy while modernising it.’

Image on previous page: POP Suite living room

Above left: Lounge area in lobby

Above right: Booth seating in Vertici restaurant

Below right: Hallway featuring arch motif

“The arches and symmetry that are so synonymous with Roman design played a big role in shaping the hotel’s [interior] aesthetic,” he notes. “By blending historical architectural cues with modern elements [such as] sleek materials and contemporary lighting, we were able to create a space that somehow feels both timeless and cutting-edge.”

Those arches in particular are a recurring motif, not just in structural elements such as the lobby-adjacent seating booths, but in painted elements, in the curves of the floor treatments and the bow of freestanding stools and cushioned pews. Throughout, Zafrir and his team played with form and silhouette to add interest and intrigue, pulling the eye in myriad directions, while still ensuring every practical and decorative element is speaking a consistent design language.

Here colour was also key, and though Cardo Roma features a bold variety, the palette was devised as much for its connection to the city as its aesthetic charm.

“The olive-green tones and terracotta hues… speak to the Italian landscape and the ancient architecture that defines the city,” says Zafrir. “Olive green, for me, represents Italy in its truest form, and I’m also proud of [how the colours work alongside] the fluid architectural elements

“The arches and symmetry that are so synonymous with Roman design played a big role in shaping the hotel’s [interior] aesthetic.”

we incorporated, such as the curved ceilings in the lobby and the use of 3D wall textures – giving the space an almost tactile sense of history.”

Off the expansive lobby lies Vertici, the hotel’s swish signature restaurant specialising in, unsurprisingly, elegant Italian fare – with a bar for aperitivi. Beyond: the pool area, now complete with cabanas and umbrella-shaded dining tables, with the seasonal Spectio bar serving cocktails and snacks outside of the chillier winter months.

These all sit alongside the equally reimagined and comprehensive conferencing facilities, including – at 3,100 sqm – one of the largest events spaces in Rome. Meeting rooms are equipped with the latest tech and, addressing modern working habits, are modular in design – allowing every room to accommodate various configurations, making them suitable for executive gatherings or collaborative workshops. Zafrir describes the desire

Left: Arched alcove booths

Above: Breakfast table with illuminated shelving

Right: BIG Suite dining table

to create environments – be they for work, pleasure or both – that “foster community interaction, much like Rome itself.” The generous 1,200 sqm Olea spa however, presumably somewhere where laptops are abandoned.

With Cardo Roma aiming to blur, or even shatter, the boundaries between the traditional business hotel and a leisure stay – boundaries that grow increasingly redundant in an age of hybrid working and digital nomads – guestrooms feel comfortable and generous, with yawning sofas, panelled walls and, in some cases, freestanding baths. This is certainly not the business hotel of clunky desks, clunkier phones and even clunkier-still plug banks.

“The guestrooms are a deliberate contrast to the public spaces,” describes Zafrir. “While the lobby and common areas buzz with energy and community, the guestrooms are more about quiet indulgence and relaxation. We took inspiration from the Roman concept of ‘Otium’ – leisure and pleasure – and designed the rooms to be

serene and cocoon-like, with warm tones and plush fabrics.”

As the first Cardo (Cardo Brussels has since opened its doors), Cardo Roma had not only to stand alone as a property with its own provenance and concept, but set the stall out for this fledgling brand. It’s something Nicolas Romero Oneto, Head of Cardo Hotels, was highly conscious of, ultimately proud of what has been achieved in the Italian capital.

“The cardo was a north-south oriented street in Roman cities, the central point of economic life – embodying a lively and energetic vision that inspired our new, all-encompassing hospitality concept,” he says. “Cardo hotels uniquely adapt to the aesthetics and culture of their city, making them the perfect fit for Autograph Collection Hotels, which are ‘exactly like nothing else’. Cardo Roma exemplifies this philosophy, blending personal wellbeing with business culture and setting a new standard for nextgeneration hotel experiences."

Connecting the dots

A sprawling new neighbourhood brings community-focused housing and more to Wandsworth, London.

Words: Chloé Petersen Snell

Photography: Felix Speller and Toby Mitchell

Lister + Lister

London is a series of villages, perhaps more than any other great city – smaller Medieval villages expanding and connecting, eventually subsumed into the Greater London metropolis we know today. It’s clear to see the remnants of these villages, modern developments wrapping around churches and green spaces from Clerkenwell to Soho – easily distinguishable neighbourhoods each with their own locality and unique identity. It’s what makes London a very

liveable city, minus the hefty prices –amenities, connectivity, a vibrant culture and plenty of green space. In leafy Wandsworth, Legal and General’s latest Build-to-Rent development provides a village within a village for its residents, spotlighting rich amenity inside and out – Wandsworth recently awarded Borough of Culture in 2025.

A huge development spanning 13 blocks, New Acres is made up of two sites, North and South, built where a former B&Q warehouse once stood – now providing 554 new homes and 8,000 sq m of independent retail and hospitality space for the surrounding community. As we visit, the second stage, New Acres South, is nearing completion; eventually the scheme will deliver a total 1,035 apartments, 35% of which is reserved for affordable-housing tenants. For interior designers Lister and Lister, New Acres creates a new neighbourhood for Wandsworth, the studio’s design focusing on wellbeing and encouraging neighbourly interaction in an increasingly stressful world.

“A calm and accessible oasis in the centre of a busy urban environment.”

“It's rare to have the opportunity to create a new community of this scale,” says Andrew Lister, founder and director of the Leeds-based studio. “A London resident wants it all: to be close to the city, within easy reach of amenities including outdoor space, but also to retreat into private quiet space when it all gets too much. We wanted to create a calm and accessible oasis in the centre of a busy urban environment.”

Inside New Acres North, a light-filled double-height lobby provides access to multiple amenity spaces across three podiums, all designed to bring people together – from a dedicated health and wellbeing centre and designated workspace to a bar and bookable social suites for events. An earthy colour

Image on previous page: 25-metre outdoor lido

Below left: In-house bar with high stools Centre: Bookable social suite and dining area

Below right: Apartment hallway leading to bedroom

“It's rare to have the opportunity to create a new community of this scale.”

palette unites the spaces, wall colours transitioning from dark to light, with softly-lit wooden shelving structuring and zoning the different areas. Sandycoloured, poured terrazzo flooring by Flowcrete runs throughout the amenity areas, Lister and Lister collaborating closely with the manufacturer to create a bespoke, durable product that would require little maintenance – the aggregate within the terrazzo containing recycled content from heavy industry waste streams.

Materiality was a key consideration for the studio, ensuring materials and suppliers specified could offer something to the scheme that wasn’t just a fitting aesthetic –from manufacturing processes, efficient installation techniques and fit-for-purpose materials to experts in their field or UK-

based where possible. Sofas were made in the UK by Roger Lewis and dining chairs were provided by Mater, made from organic byproducts and manufacturing waste.

To accommodate new(ish) ways of working, a large variety of workspace is provided, including private phone booths, long coworking tables and more relaxed lounge settings with an eclectic mix of furniture. “We had always included space for people to work in our BTR projects,” notes Lister, “however the quantum changed in 2020 as flexible working became the new normal – areas were reconfigured to provide workbooths as well as additional desking.”

The development lies on the historic site of lush market gardens next to the Thames, originally cultivated by the Huguenots in

Left: Designated residents' workspace

Right: Communal lounge

Lister + Lister

the 17th century and expanding to acres of fragrant lavender and rose trees by the 19th. This garden heritage has provided inspiration for New Acres, with both architects Hawkins\Brown and Lister and Lister using oak and colours inspired by the flowers once grown there to create a “strong inside-outside relationship” between the amenity and external landscape. As well as private outdoor access for each apartment, a wealth of shared external space offers a much-needed connection to nature, with communal gardens encouraging community collaboration and knowledgesharing. An impressive 25-metre outdoor lido provides the social heart of the development, and the open amenity is predominantly introspective, facing onto the central lido and the garden terrace to provide glimpses of the water and greenery from the different spaces.

The broader impact of the development was the softening and activation of what had always been a low density, car-focused area, Lister adds, creating a positive impact in the centre of Wandsworth. The concept of the ‘market garden’ introduced over 200 new trees to the area, as well as more homes to support existing local businesses. Providing a new station square and connection between Wandsworth Town Station and the existing residential buildings along the Thames and beyond, New Acres cautiously treads the line between regeneration and gentrification, supporting a sense of healthy village life in the Big Smoke.

Flooring

Flowcrete, Havwoods

Furniture

The Furniture Practice

Hem, &Tradition, Audo, Gubi, Normann Copenhagen, Ferm Living, 101 Copenhagen, Viccarbe, Hay, Norr 11, Pedrali

Surfaces

Ceasarstone, V-TEC Group, SAS International,

Lighting

Phloc, Hay, DCW Editions, Marset, Lee Broom, CTO Lighting, Nemo

Electric dreams

At Hyde London City, the Victorian period is reimagined for a bold new hotel brand.

Words: Harry McKinley

Photography: Courtesy of Ennismore

Even on a non-descript weekday morning Hyde London City feels a microcosm of the capital: suited workers eating breakfast at the ground floor restaurant, papers in hand; grey haired, cameratoting tourists shuffling out of the elevators; a group of 20-somethings perched on bar stools sipping coffees. Arriving late the night before, the same ground floor restaurant was full, while an assortment of merry post-work-day professionals filtered through the lobby en route to the basement cocktail joint.

One imagines this broad appeal is a boon for Ennismore, and what the operator hoped to achieve for the new Hyde brand and this first 111-key property in particular. It’s set within an especially historic slice of the City of London, and the building itself is Grade II listed – built in 1874 at a time of Victorian innovation, the first hotel in London with electric lighting. It's architecturally imposing, with mansard roofs, highly ornate external brickwork and decorative columns. But though conceived and originally serving as a

hotel, more recently the building was adapted into offices – and in the 1980s an unsympathetic interior conversion saw most, if not all, of the original details stripped away; Victorian charm supplanted by bland workplace uniformity.

For Studio Moren then, the project’s specialist architects and interior designers, there was little left inside to resurrect, even if the ultimate goal was to reimbue the property with some of its long-lost lustre and visibly reconnect it with its own storied past. This while creating something also of our time, of course; something that would set a bold tone for the still embryonic Hyde hotel brand.

In this sense, while the studio has reintroduced some traditional design elements – cornicing, high skirtings and timber flooring – it has taken a more playful, esoteric and eccentric approach to what one might call Victoriana.

“We embraced the challenge of merging… contrasting influences, crafting interiors that honour the Victorian-listed building's heritage while staying true to Hyde’s identity,” explains Studio Moren associate, Ed Murray. “Our goal was to create three distinct yet connected experiences – hotel, restaurant and bar – each with its own entrance, but seamlessly integrated into a unified hospitality destination.”

Studio Moren

At entry level, a leather lined reception desk in olive green sweeps around from the hotel lobby into Leydi, the signature Turkish restaurant – helmed by renowned chef, Selin Kiazim. As Murray notes, it also has its own street-facing entrance; a dining destination for locals as well as guests. Here the interiors are inspired by Nancy Micklewright’s A Victorian Traveller in the Middle East, a collection of period essays and photography. Trefoil arches pay homage to the architecture of the Middle East, rattan abounds and the walls feature a warm gradient texture, with a bespoke blush plaster finish. There’s a sense of humour too, in the statement chandelier fashioned from zips, and in the loos –inspired by Victorian Illusionists and featuring a 3D marble floor pattern, optical illusion wallcoverings and a rippled stainless-steel ceiling with fibre optic lighting.

Below ground lies Black Lacquer, a Japanese-centric, speakeasy-style bar that draws heavily on ‘vinyl culture’, down to the polished Venetian plaster walls with grooves inspired by records. Chamfered joinery is influenced by Japanese craftmanship and, throughout, deeply coloured upholstery adds to the

“Three distinct yet connected experiences, seamlessly integrated into a unified hospitality destination.”

Image on previous page: Accent wallpaper and bedside furnishings

Left: In-house Turkish restaurant, Leydi Centre: Suite bedroom with sofa

Right: Building exterior

“Victorian elegance with colour palettes inspired by the era and meticulously designed furniture.”

cosseting ambiance. Particularly neat design touches include the herringbone floor by Broadleaf Timber, treated to look time-worn, and the faux pantry that shields the kitchen entrance – a stylistic slight of hand of which the Victorians would surely approve.

Upstairs, to incorporate more guestrooms, a modest and sensitive extension was added, “over a former lightwell at the rear of the hotel, allowing its design to pay homage to the host building,” explains Murray. “The extension is sympathetic in style, yet constructed using modern methods, with brick slips chosen due to the limitations on additional load we could place on the existing foundations.”

Two design schemes are deployed across the various room tiers and suites, one in deep blue and the other in rich green. Maximalist wallpapers by Timorous Beasties celebrate period Britain, with wild patterns inspired by botany and

Left: Twin room with green accents Below: Bathroom tiling and fixtures

Right: Black Lacquer speakeasy bar

exploration, as well the mesmerising patterns viewed through a kaleidoscope –an invention that fascinated the Victorians; in the hallways custom carpets by Ulster.

"The guestrooms exude Victorian elegance with colour palettes inspired by the era and meticulously designed furniture, including bobbin-leg beds, brass-trimmed desks and a distinctive three-legged desk chair,” details Tom Thorogood, co-head of interiors at Studio Moren.

“Playful elements continue throughout the corridors, featuring bespoke wall lights with fluted glass, brass room numbers and illuminated ‘do not disturb’ symbols in the form of closed eyelids.

The Headliner Suite draws inspiration from Victorian explorer Marianne North, celebrated for her global travels and her documentation of exotic plants. It boasts a striking House of Hackney botanical wallcovering and three beautifully crafted niches – a desk, wardrobe, and minibar –effortlessly blending functionality with timeless charm."

Flooring

Timber flooring: Broadleaf Timber, Tiling: Reed Harris, Carpets: Ulster Carpets

Furniture

Montrose

Hospitality, O’Donnell

Furniture, Specialist

Commercial Joinery surfaces

Concept Contract

Furnishings, Newmor

Wallcoverings, Muraspec

Decorative

Solutions Limited, Timorous Beasties

Lighting

Lighting Designer: Elektra Lighting, Chelsom

Aneartotheground

At KEF Music Gallery London, Conran and Partners blends heritage and high-tech for an audio showroom like no other.

Home to luxury brand flagships and landmark department stores, over the decades Oxford Street has established itself as one of the world’s foremost retail destinations. Nearby lies British audio manufacturer KEF’s new London Music Gallery – an acoustically treated haven for audiophiles, and a bold new take on the typical retail showroom.

Behind this new opening is architecture and interior design practice Conran and Partners, which first partnered with KEF in 2018 to design its Hong Kong gallery, an intimate space with an exclusive, members’ club feel. In a purposeful departure, KEF’s London outpost was envisioned as tuning into

the local music scene with a more accessible approach, bringing the brand to a wider audience. Founded in 1961 by BBC engineer Raymond Cooke –considered by many to be the ‘father’ of high-fidelity sound – KEF still makes its professional grade Hi-Fi speakers, subwoofers and headphones by hand in Maidstone, Kent, a legacy this space proudly pays homage to.

“We wanted to go back to the industrial heritage of KEF – the craft, the knowledge, the engineering – but then overlay that with a human environment that people enjoy being in,” explains Tina Norden, principal and partner at Conran. First conveying this human

Words: Charlotte Slinger

Photography: Taran Wilkhu

touch is the street-level café (aptly named KEFé), where audio lovers can enjoy a coffee against a musical backdrop, with a rotating ‘record of the week’ selected by staff. Originally built in the 1960s and once home to two small restaurants, the midcentury structure has been stripped back to establish a refined industrial palette of raw concrete floors, exposed columns and an aluminium ceiling grid, crafted by Italian design engineer Ceir.

It's here that KEF hosts a busy programme of workshops and events, spotlighting emerging musicians with intimate album parties, screenings and live performances, as well as celebrating the life and work of industry icons – including a listening party for David Bowie’s remastered Ziggy Stardust album with the Bowie estate. Walls are lined with artwork and installations by local, up-andcoming artists, photographs from the KEF archives and original mid-century

turntables, establishing the gallery as a place in tune with both its musical heritage and today’s cultural zeitgeist. Doubling as an events space, this ground level was designed to be adaptable: aluminium shelving units displaying headphones, speakers and vinyls can be moved to accommodate larger events, while remotecontrolled blinds on the floor-to-ceiling windows act as projector screens, able to display high-resolution video both internally and to the street outside.

By its very nature, high-performance acoustics were instrumental to this project. Norden’s team exchanged expertise with KEF’s in-house audio experts, a process she describes as “a marriage between performance and aesthetics, and a learning curve on both sides.” Exemplifying this marriage is the spray acoustic coating the ceiling overhead, a highly effective yet sustainable material comprised of recycled

Image on previous page: The Living Room

Left: The Ultimate Experience Room

Above right: Communal table in The Hub

Below right:

Acoustically treated podcast studio

“The industrial heritage of KEF with a human environment.”

newspaper. These acoustic treatments continue in the gallery’s podcast studio, with a textured soundproof wall inspired by the Maidstone factory’s anechoic chamber, that envelops the room in silence. KEF offers this studio to selected organisations free of charge, without the heavy branding we come to expect from most podcasts, helping the gallery to be more intentional with its partnerships and achieve organic growth by word of mouth.

Conran and Partners also made pains to streamline and humanise the technology behind KEF’s products; thousands of metres of cable are hidden behind the smooth, dark oak wall panels, each with its own concealed storage and integrated lights. Staff can control all this lighting and AV equipment from their phones using home automation system Crestron, helping the experience feel seamless and less alienating for those who aren’t as

well-versed in the industry. “Sound affects us so much, but so often now, spaces are designed without any kind of reference to acoustics or the hierarchy of sound,” Norden adds. “Layer into that people who may have issues with their hearing or are neurodivergent, and it becomes a real problem that I think a lot of people have forgotten about.”

Heading downstairs through a dark, dramatic staircase, lies an immersive space embodying KEF’s motto, ‘Listen to believe’. Here, Hi-Fi enthusiasts can book a listening session in The Living Room, a cosy, residential-inspired space with aspirational yet familiar pieces such as a plush Mario Bellini sofa and Pierre Paulin’s Pumpkin swivel chair. Next door, The Hub provides

“We want to stay away from any trend-led colours or furniture.”

a collaborative space with a bespoke coworking table and in-ceiling speaker installation, while in an adjoining room lies The Ultimate Experience Room, where a Dolby screening system, seven subwoofers and a pair of two-metretall, polished aluminium KEF MUON speakers create an awe-inspiring audiovisual experience entirely removed from the streets above.

Despite its contemporary furnishings and industrial palette, Norden’s team was also set on designing this space for longevity. “From the very beginning we

said we wanted to stay away from any trend-led colours or furniture – all of the pieces are custom made or design classics, so that in ten years’ time, they will hopefully still feel relevant,” she concludes. “In many ways, interior design is a bit like fashion, but when we consider sustainability in terms of a budget, we don’t have projects with open chequebooks. People want to know whether a space will last for a long period of time without having to renovate, and I think that's the best way we as designers can be sustainable.”

Furniture twentytwentyone

JLK Design

Larusi

B&H

Ligne Roset

Design Research Studio

Jo Marland

Surfaces

Kvadrat Fabrics

Lighting

Tom Dixon

Design Research Studio twentytwentyone

Below left: Speakers displayed in The Hub

Above left: Dolby screening system in The Living Room

Right: KEFé and event space

In defence of plastic

An abundant resource is hiding in plain sight, says Dr William Chizhovsky, founder and CEO of The Good Plastic Company.

Plastic has revolutionised modern life in countless positive ways. It is made into medical equipment, makes vehicles lighter and more fuel-efficient and helps preserve food freshness. Its versatility and durability have made it indispensable in everything from life-saving devices to everyday conveniences. But this remarkable material has also presented us with an unprecedented challenge.

Consider this: the architecture and design (A&D) industry is responsible for approximately 9% of global CO2 emissions, largely due to the materials used in construction and interiors. Plastics, often dismissed as unsustainable, are a major part of this conversation. Globally, almost two-thirds of all plastic waste comes from applications with lifespans of less than

five years – packaging (40%), consumer products (12%), and textiles (11%). As little as 9% of that waste has been recycled, while the rest pollute landfills, oceans and ecosystems, while contributing to CO2 emissions from production. With plastic production set to double by 2050, we face a critical juncture. Yet, I see an opportunity where others see crisis. The very qualities that make plastic pollution problematic – its durability and abundance – can become advantages.

Certain types of plastic waste, particularly rigid polystyrene from items like refrigerator panels, electronics, and industrial spools and tubing, retain their valuable properties long after their initial use. So, rather than viewing this waste as a burden, we should see it as a valuable

The Good Plastic Company Positive Impact

resource that's waiting to be transformed for high-value material reuse – one that can even replace virgin plastics, wood, MDF, stone or other materials.

This is why we focus on more than just creating another material. As a mission-driven organisation, we aim to reduce the carbon footprint of the architecture and design industry while introducing a new category of material – made entirely from 100% recycled plastic. By manufacturing Polygood® panels from recycled polystyrene (rPS), we provide an innovative solution for furniture, fixtures and flooring that transforms waste into value. The key to addressing plastic pollution lies in scalable solutions that offer sustainable alternatives without compromising quality or design possibilities.

While small-scale upcycling initiatives are admirable, they can't address the sheer volume of plastic waste we generate. We need industrial-scale solutions that can process significant quantities while maintaining high-quality building standards. The carbon impact associated with interior design components is a significant but often overlooked problem compared to concrete and steel. True circularity in design demands conscious decisions at every phase of a product's lifecycle. This starts with sourcing from certified recycling centres and extends through low-impact manufacturing processes to end-of-life responsibility. When products and materials are designed to be fully recyclable they can be transformed into new products again and again, creating a closed waste loop.

Image on previous page: Polygood® material

Left: Nike Rise West London, photography TDM.Space

Right: Polygood® table at Revolucion Limo, Madrid

Major retailers are already proving this is possible – our client Nike incorporated 30 tonnes of Polygood® to make its retail fixtures and furniture for a single store in West London. Lush, the British cosmetics retailer, has utilised Polygood® materials in over 30 stores worldwide, including locations in Europe, Australia and Asia. Each store incorporates around 400 kg of Polygood®, making a significant environmental impact by preventing plastic waste and reducing carbon emissions. These examples just a few of many success stories.

Meanwhile, independent analysis shows a product consisting of 100% rPS generates a Global Warming Potential of 487 kg per ton – eight times lower than virgin polystyrene production and six times lower than comparable products on the market – demonstrating how

recycled materials can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of interior design components.

The architecture and design community has a crucial role to play. By specifying recycled plastic for large-scale projects, designers are creating future-proof designs that help solve a global problem. This is particularly important as other materials grow scarce, as global warming progresses, as environmental regulations tighten, and as companies seek ways to meet ambitious sustainability targets.

While research grows on recycling energy-intensive concrete and developing new techniques for wood reuse, recycled plastic stands ready as an abundant, recyclable material to help mitigate the carbon footprint of design projects today. More consumption of recycled plastics

could lead to greater recycling technology and capabilities, and my hope is that this would help end plastic pollution. Meanwhile, frameworks like Cradle to Cradle® certification are already in place to ensure recycled plastic meets sustainability requirements.

Reusing plastic waste is therefore more about changing our collective mindset. While we must eliminate unnecessary plastic production, particularly singleuse items, we cannot ignore the vast amounts that already exist. The future lies in transformative, industrial-scale approaches that view plastic waste as a valuable resource, creating truly circular systems that benefit both industry and planet.

thegoodplasticcompany.com

The nature of citiestoday’s

Des Fitzgerald is a professor of medical humanities and social sciences at University College Cork. In 2024 he published, The City of Today is a Dying Thing – an urgent journey into the future of urban life. Published by Faber and available at faber.co.uk

Academic and author Des Fitzgerald unpicks the tension between the natural and man-made, asking if there’s even as much of a distinction as we might imagine.

Over the last few years, in an attempt to make sense of the growing connection between psychological science and spatial design, I've spent a lot of time at workshops and conferences about how physical environments affect a person’s health. And my primary finding from this experience – maybe my only solid empirical result – is that, at some point, during literally every one of these events, someone will talk very earnestly about the work of Roger Ulrich. This makes sense: in 1984, Ulrich published a study in the journal, Science, based on the medical records of patients who had been assigned to rooms on two different floors in a

hospital in Pennsylvania, over a ten-year period. On these floors, as it happened, patients had been randomly allocated rooms that had one of two views: from some rooms, you could see a nice clump of deciduous trees out of the window; from others all you got was a bare brick wall. Ulrich took the records of all the patients who had had gall bladder surgery and been assigned to a room on one of these floors. He then looked at how long each patient had been in hospital, how much pain relief they asked for, whether they asked for tranquilizers for their anxiety, and whatever else the nurses wrote down about them. The results were remarkable.

Patients who could see trees spent fewer days in hospital, received fewer notes on their charts describing them as ‘upset and crying’, asked much less frequently for painkilling drugs and had fewer postsurgical complications.

Now, if you’re interested in how the design of a space might positively affect the body and mind – especially if you’re interested in the role of natural objects and scenes in makings spaces that are good, healthy and restful – this study, and its many followups, offer strong evidence. But research on this vein has also filtered out into a wider cultural conversation about biology and the environment – about how the unnaturally straight, unadorned or boxy features of modern design, or the modern cityscape more generally, might simply be bad for human beings. This is an important conversation. But there’s also a risk, I think, in misdiagnosing a cultural or political objection to modern design as something that is really biological. Recall that the 1970s and 1980s, the period from which this work springs, is the era of ‘urban decay,’ a moment of collective moral panic about the modern city as a dystopian place, a centre of danger, crime and decay; a form of human habitat that

was in steep and likely terminal decline. It’s the era of Taxi Driver and Death Wish, the precise moment, as the historian Otto Saumarez Smith puts it, when ‘modernist orthodoxies in approaches to cities began to unravel’. This was also a crisis in twentieth century planning and design. It’s the moment when Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities was becoming ubiquitous among urban intellectuals; when Robert Caro’s The Power Broker – an unflattering biography of Robert Moses, the New York City planner and great adversary of Jacobs – won the Pulitzer Prize. In other words, it’s the moment when the utopian assumptions of twentieth-century environmental design started to sink, quite palpably, into the ground. This isn’t to say that all that’s happening here is cultural, or that we can simply ignore scientific results. But it’s not nothing, I think, that highly influential literature on how images of landscapes make people afraid, sad, stressed, or whatever, comes from an era in which the slow death of the city, and even a kind of libidinal interest in the submission of entire urban districts to crime and dereliction, was a major part of everyday popular culture.

“There's also a risk in misdiagnosing a cultural or political objection to modern design as something that is really biological.”

The preference for natural scenes that Ulrich’s research (and that of many others) suggest is often called ‘biophilia.’ This term is associated with Edward O. Wilson, and proposes that human beings have an evolved need to be around natural, living things – that if this need is not fulfilled, they will quickly become quite ill. But what exactly is meant by nature here? When we think about how life has developed in the modern built environment – especially when we think about that development in relation to nature, or our own place in nature –we are often thinking about a set of material traces, traces that seem to lead us back to a weirdly artificial turn in the development of human society. At such moments, the modern environment appears to us as a synthetic density of concrete, glass and medium-density fiberboard; of slate, chrome, and liquid crystal; of synthetic fabric, industrial carpet, air conditioning, high-pressure sodium, rubber, petrol, polyester – all the human things of the late modern world, all of which seem to have carried us very far from a more innocent age of trees, birds, otters, air, wood, water and soil.

But the distinction between these sets of things is not philosophically obvious. Most vegetation, of course, is where it is, and looks how it looks, due to quite brutal and highly industrial human manipulation of the soil. Forests grow and regrow in line with the agricultural and economic needs of nearby humans. Water often moves in the direction that humans have made it move. The beautiful rolling landscapes of the English countryside, so-called, are actually the product of industrial-scale and human-driven deforestation; your average Cotswold hillside is, alas, as brute and scarred a scene as any factory floor.

None of this means you can't prefer vegetation or green things in design, or that these have no role in human help. But we might have to question the idea that what you’re working with here is anything meaningfully called ‘nature.’ We may even have to trouble the notion that the connection between psychology and green space is, somehow, deeply biological, and not, once again, simply the slow working through of political and cultural prejudice into what, actually, we just want a good space to be.

What it’s made of: Is materiality the foundation of successful design?

In partnership with Impact Acoustic, we explored how materials sit at the intersection of innovation, sustainability and sensorial design, asking what role they can play in creating future-forward, long-lasting, tactile spaces.

and moderated by: Harry McKinley

Words

Bidisha Sinha

Zaha Hadid

Associate Director

Harry McKinley

Mix Interiors

Managing Editor

Setting the scene: why does materiality matter?

“Materiality is emotive; it’s a way to communicate something,” opened Journey’s Jesse MacDougall.

“Materials aren’t just ‘stuff’, they’re the basis of how people connect with a space and the foundation of what happens within it; the conversations and transactions. So we should always remember materials are at the heart of human-led design.”

A few floors below, at Zaha Hadid Architects’ London HQ, an exhibition on materials echoed this compelling sentiment; the walls of our host’s expansive conference room also clad in a dramatic geometric cork-scape. MacDougall’s treatise and our surroundings laid bare the power of materiality, its omnipresence and its potential. Yet so often it isn’t at the root of the most meaningful or impactful design discussions.

“And yet there’s nothing in design, if there isn’t materiality,” stressed ZHA’s Bidisha Sinha. “Every surface is a material [and] if you don’t understand the properties of that material, then you can’t design.”

Elena Panagiotidis Siren Design Group Managing Director

Gina Gallaugher Hawkins\Brown Senior Interior Designer

Natalie Walker tp bennett Project Director

In partnership with

When designing for all of the senses, materiality is the starting point.

The essential, if superficial, role of materials cemented, discussion turned to their application and the immense possibilities understanding their properties can provide – in particular their capacity to address multiple senses in the creation of stimulating spaces.

“Touch is incredibly important, but sometimes not considered deeply in some environments,” noted

tp bennett’s Natalie Walker. “It’s the one thing that can never be conveyed virtually, it’s a part of an experience you can only get from being in a room; having something in front of you.”

“Because your eyes can deceive you,” continued Elena Panagiotidis, Siren Design Group, “but touch will always give you the reality of what a material is and then it becomes a means to convey quality in a space – especially if you’re making intentioned choices as a designer about the effect that you want a material to have on someone, and how you want it to feel to them.” That sense of intention simply

isn’t always there in how some environments are conceived, suggested MacDougall, comparing the thought that goes into a hospitality project versus the experience many may have in a care setting, for example.

“Touch is a really important part of the design conversation, because in hospitality, if you’re thinking about a leather booth you might ask: will somebody fall in love here? Will the textures and tactility we imbue this space with work to create certain moments and memories? That’s all intention. In a healthcare environment, everything often feels sterile; like it's bleach cleanable

Jesse MacDougall Journey Principal and Design Director

Maria Henshall Perkins&Will Senior Interior Designer

Angelia Liard Area Creative Director

Sven Erni Impact Acoustic CEO/Co-Founder

“We should always remember materials are at the heart of human-led design.”

and wiped down. But with our own first healthcare project, we wanted to draw from a hospitality material approach and ask: how do we bring some comfort and connection to our caregivers and families visiting their loved ones? How do we create a place that's safe and feels warm and inviting? As a design industry we’re not always thinking of materials in this way enough, across sectors.”

“In well-designed spaces these things are implicit and almost invisible; we take them for granted” continued Sinha. “But it’s important to caveat this discussion by reminding ourselves that not all spaces are designed well. Acoustics are a perfect example: when they’re right, we don’t even notice it, but when they’re off, we do.”

Panagiotidis agreed that how designers ‘play’ with materials and use them purposefully to create particular sensory experiences is key: “You need to have that variation in sound as it all adds to the layering of the experience of that space. So, if you're walking in and you have a concrete floor, and then you move to a different type, the texture of that floor plays a part in how someone experiences it; the sound of shoes interacting with those materials. Someone using a space doesn’t need to be conscious of that, but as designers we need to be – using materials to give you the effect that you want.”

Materials are a conduit for design values, not least sustainability.

“For me, materials are really at the forefront of addressing whatever the major questions or challenges in design are at any given moment,” shared Hawkins\Brown’s Gina Gallaugher. “That’s currently sustainability, and end users have never been more educated or pushed more in this area – so it’s always on the table for us as a consideration. That’s a really exciting change that, if you'd asked me five years ago, I would have been very cynical about.”

“But though the intentions are good and the rationale may be there, I sadly find that those intentions are watered down as soon as practical details and budgets are discussed,” continued Area’s Angelia Liard. “It’s really driven by the client, even with our recommendations. So once you get into cost, the conversation starts to fall apart, because we often don't have enough options of a certain material, where it’s cost competitive.”

It's here that principle and practicality meet head on. While they don’t always need to be in competition, it’s a complexity manufacturers are grappling with. Impact Acoustic’s Sven Erni firstly acknowledged that, “there's not enough material innovation, but there's huge demand from the

design industry to deliver these products,” going on to explain that, “sometimes the sustainable argument isn’t enough, there needs to also be an economic or functional rationale.” For Impact Acoustic, Erni detailed, this means demonstrating that though the upfront cost of a product may be slightly higher, it ultimately delivers greater value thanks to its extended

“There's not enough material innovation, but there's huge demand from the design industry.”

shelf life and the possibilities for repurposing and reuse – while still representing superior quality and an uncommon design sensibility.

“One of the proactive things as a designer that you can do is write your own gospel,” continued Walker, “and then you educate clients on that gospel, so it becomes easier to demonstrate that cost is one part of a bigger picture. At tp bennett, we always create our own agenda and own ability plan; we have our own platform where suppliers log their products and they're ranked on sustainability metrics, so we create our own accountabilities that perhaps otherwise wouldn’t be there. Ultimately, clients come to us because they buy into that approach.”

Of course, that’s not every client and for Perkins&Will’s Maria Henshall, addressing the dual priorities of access to cost effective materials and sustainability could require more collective action as an industry. “The most sustainable material is one that already exists,” she suggested, “and I think there’s room for some kind of freecycle network in commercial interior design. A lot of this is really unsexy stuff – carpets or raw materials that no one will ever see, but which can be very expensive for the client. It would be great if someone could say, ‘I need a load of this’, and then be able to find someone who has it and wants to get rid of it. That would be a great start on a more circular material pathway.”

It's not just about function, how materials look is important too and that will require more innovation.

“Our acoustic products are often part of the design element of a space,” explained Erni, “which is why we’re really interested in form and variations of colours; at other times needing something that can disappear into the background. So just because something is providing a function, doesn’t mean we don’t have to consider how it looks.”

“But we do have a lack of highquality, sustainable, recycled, innovative interior materials,” stressed Gallaugher, “if we want to consider using what’s already there. If you don't always inherit a project with really high-quality waste, like granite, then you often end up with a lot of grey carpet tiles, some raised access floors and old partitions. I would like to see us being able draw on a reuse narrative of maybe less glamorous, more day-to-day materials.”

“And that’s all about innovation,” attested MacDougall, “creating new materials that people can work

“The most sustainable material is one that already exists.”

with, that they're going to do cool stuff with. The goal of innovation is to become ubiquitous, so if innovation erases the bad options and gives us something honest and sustainable instead, then that's the real goal, right?”

“Then it’s up to designers to get creative,” continued Sinha. “If we understand the material and know its limitations or how far we can push it, that's where we can also be innovative as designers. If we understand how things are made, and manufacturers are transparent, then we know how to pull apart and bring back together.”

For Panagiotidis, this is the foundation of materiality in design, saying in conclusion: “I implore everybody to have fun in design. The moment we start to play, we're able to create; if we're given the opportunity to do playful things with products and materials, then that’s how we can create the most interesting and innovative spaces.”

Is it enough to just sustainably?design

We explore the transformative concept of regenerative design, focusing on approaches that not only minimise harm, but create systems that restore and rebalance. Words and moderated by: Chloé Petersen Snell

When it comes to sustainability, doing less harm is no longer good enough. How can we create systems that heal our planet – and is the real challenge learning to give back more than we take? In partnership

with Interface, we gathered a table of design experts at x+why’s Manchester outpost to discuss the concept of regeneration for people and planet, and learning to coevolve with nature.

Restore, renew and replenish: a new sustainability mantra

To meet ambitious targets like the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree celsius goal and the United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, a transition from maintaining the status quo to actively improving and healing ecosystems is required. Progressing from reuse and recycle approach to a new sustainability mantra of restore, renew and replenish requires a major shake-up in practice and behaviours. Is the concept of ‘designing sustainably’ still relevant in an era where environmental and social systems

are in urgent need of restoration? Sustainable design and regenerative design are not two separate topics, explained Interface’s Becky Gordon, “If the baseline is already sustainable design, the ultimate target is regenerative – it’s less of a scary jump to think what regenerative approaches we can incorporate into your projects. It’s pushing us to think a bit further.”

The table agreed that the concept of regenerative design offers the potential for greater impact and the pushing of boundaries beyond sustainability goals that have become a box ticking exercise for many. “Unfortunately, the term sustainability has lost its edge,

Chloé Petersen Snell

Deputy Editor Mix Interiors

Claire Owens Associate Sheppard Robson

Jason Turner Associate Director tp bennett

In partnership with

almost losing its meaning,” added Gordon. “Regenerative design is ambitious, big picture thinking –for something to be regenerative is a huge ask and, for me, more inspiring and exciting.”

Regeneration also requires granular research and tailored solutions to local challenges, suggested EPR’s David Sparks. “A regenerative approach in Manchester will be very different to Istanbul. This should

“Regenerative design is ambitious, big picture thinking.”

influence our designs to address unique local needs with innovations like low-carbon concrete and sitespecific glazing.”

Working with nature’s genius

Nature has a genius, a way of thriving and surviving – from water storage to carbon sequestering. How can we take natural systems and make them the standard in our spaces, using concepts like biomimicry and natural materials? We must go beyond net zero to become carbon positive, and manufacters must prioritise recycled or bio-based materials from the

outset to consider carbon reduction on a whole-life basis, said Gordon.

“We don’t have to grow a field of crops to create bio-based materials – there is waste material that exists. Take corn: what we actually eat as humans is tiny and there is so much waste that is burned and its carbon released into the atmosphere. We can take agricultural and foresty waste and use that in our products, ensuring we’re not taking virgin raw materials from the earth.”

“That’s real carbon capture,” Barr Gazetas’ Magnus Wills enthused. “If you use a single season crop and create a product that lasts for more than one season, you've captured carbon; it’s kind of the dream!”

Becky Gordon Regional Sustainability Manager UKIME, Interface

John Williams Director and Founder SpaceInvader Magnus Wills Associate Barr Gazetas

David Sparks Head of Manchester Studio EPR Architects

“When was the last time you saw natural ventilation in an office building?”

“Bio-based materials are so important for regenerative design,” agreed John Williams, SpaceInavder, “they can break down and go back into the system – whereas a lot of the raw materials are turned into something that can’t be broken down into this regenerative ecosystem we're trying to create.”

Understanding a product’s sustainable and regenerative qualities requires scrutinising binders, bio-based content, recyclability and end-of-life processes, noted ID:SR’s Claire Owens. “What percentage is bio-based? Can it be split up at the end of its life? Do you have the facility to actually do that? I'm not quite convinced that people you speak to everyday know the answers to these questions and it becomes a difficult process.”

Working with Janine Benyus and Biomimicry 3.8, Interface has worked to make its factories more regenerative by mimicing the high-performing ecosystem in the surrounding areas as part of its ‘Factory as a Forest’ project

– creating a new roadmap for how factories can operate in future. “We took a lot of metrics from forests and natural land near to our factories, measuring water and soil, pH levels, and how much carbon was being sequestered by the environment, for example,” Gordon expanded. “Rather than aiming for a factory that achieves zero impact, you take a baseline measurement of your factory today and set your targets based on that area of nature.”

“Look at Patrick Bellow’s [Atelier ten] work inspired by termite mounds that have fully integrated, passive temperature control,” added Wills. “When was the last time you saw natural ventilation in an office building?”

Restoring natural and human systems

Economist Kate Raworth’s concept of Doughnut Economics reimagines our existing economy as a framework that balances human wellbeing with planetary boundaries – represented by an inner ring of social foundations (access to food, healthcare, education) and an outer ring of ecological limits (climate stability, biodiversity, clean air and water). In this model, economic systems must operate within these two boundaries to ensure sustainability and equity – Raworth and her team urging a transition from exploitative, growth-driven models to ones that

are inclusive and restorative. What can designers and architects do to help with this shift, and how does social sustainability impact wider ecological regeneration?

We must align social regeneration with our ecological goals, said Williams, nurturing community –and ultimately – environmental stewardship. “We’re working on two projects now where we’ve been briefed to work on the interiors, but we encouraged the client to do something that enhances the local community. They recognise that they are part of the ecosystem and they want to adopt and look after it. Can you imagine the amount of spaces that we can – and are –positively influencing?”

“There are communities that are completely disconnected from nature,” added Gordon, “and while we may view that as a small social issue today, it will lead to real problems in fighting climate change. It’s proven that the more connected to nature you are, the more likely you are to believe in climate change and want to take action to address it.”

Wills nodded to a recent decanalisation project from BDP in Lewisham: ‘freeing’ the river from its concrete channel and incorporating it into a parkland, encouraging native flora and fauna to flourish and providing a safer, healthier space for residents to benefit from. Williams gestured outside to the Manchester

landscape. “Take the river Medlock that runs through this city. It disappears underground in tunnels like a concrete straitjacket – it has no benefit to the ecosystem whatsoever. I am excited about the projects that are looking to rewild parts of cities and rivers, which will only benefit people and planet.”

Less talk, more walk: shifting the mindset

Often, where designers and architects intervene in the system to minimise harm comes too late – including shifting social structures and mindsets. For tp bennett’s Jason Turner there are two key mindset shifts needed: societal behaviors and developer

strategies, and sharing positive examples of success stories is vital.

A recent project in Leeds has proven to be one of their client’s most sustainable and successful buildings.

“It cost £2million to realise the sustainable and regenerative aspects of the project; it made that money back overnight, fully let in just three months,” he explained.

The really interesting shift is the commercial element, as EPR’s David Spark highlighted. “You’re able to charge higher rents in a building that delivers on that criteria because the customer base wants a product of that quality, recognising that that has an impact on your team, because they'll be more productive, they'll be happier, they'll be more committed to their role, allows a

circular economy in rent value.”

Other sectors like hospitality are an untapped opportunity, he continued, where we often overlook resources such as hot water usage. “A key opportunity lies in shifting perceptions of value, like encouraging guests to choose hotels based on their environmental responsibility. We can create value from sustainability. Perhaps the idea of a booking website with a ‘regenerative’ filter that took out

“Action will ultimately come from pressure groups.”

all but, say, three hotels. Those are the ones you would choose and that inevitably leads to value and the rest of the pack following.”

Perhaps the trick is less about persuading companies to act for ethical reasons and more about demonstrating the business risks based on clear science. “Legislation in the EU and UK requiring reporting on sustainability is driving a shift,” attested Gordon. “We’ve done a double materiality report this year, as well as a climate risk assessment of our business

globally, and that data will feed into reporting that we need to do. Of course, that’s not the only reason we’ve done it, but there are a lot of companies that perhaps didn’t have sustainability high on their agenda that are having to do this reporting and are realising the risks to their business if they don’t take action. We’re killing ourselves if we think we’re going to convince everyone that this is the right thing to do, but we don’t need to. We just need to make sure they understand the risk to their business, because then they’ll take action.”

“Regulation absolutely needs to change, but I think action will ultimately come from pressure groups,” added Williams. “Our industry needs to come together and push in the same direction.”

“It’s a collective endeavour,” Sparks agreed, “and we have to rewire our attitudes to make it so. We’re in an industry that is inherently competitive, and that won’t get us to where we need to be.”

LiGHT: The highlights

Emerging as the UK’s first and only trade show dedicated to the cutting edge of lighting design, LiGHT returned for its third year to Islington’s Business Design Centre, 20-21 November, with hundreds participating in a lively two days of talks and product reveals.

Starting with a LiGHT lunch on Thursday 21st, a schedule of illuminating talks unfolded under the (d)arc thoughts banner at both the Conference Hall and the Associations Lounge. Representing globally renowned brands and design studios, over 30 guest speakers were invited to air their thoughts on a dynamic range of topics.

A panel by Mix Interiors, ‘Why are we still talking about sustainability when what we need is radical action?’ moderated

by Deputy Editor Chloe

Petersen Snell, featured Perkins&Will principal Adam Strudwick, Orms’ sustainability lead Rachel Hoolahan and Open Structures’ Thomas Lommee.

Suggesting a change of pace and scale when it comes to sustainable design ambitions, the speakers discussed greenwashing and ambitious targets. “We don’t use the word ‘sustainability’ in our practice anymore,” commented Orm’s Hoolahan. “Every project has to say exactly what it’s doing and what its purposes is – sequestering X amount of carbon, for example.”

On the future furniture market, speakers urged manufacturers to develop robust second-life FF&E for designers to utilise; Perkins & Will’s Strudwick referring to a

recent project which deployed exclusively reused products, “We need to educate and collaborate as an industry to share new ideas and best practice.”

Elsewhere, experiential creative director and artist Frankie Boyle unveiled her latest installation, Intra-Spectrum, which spoke to the intricate interplay between light and human emotion. This immersive experience aimed to prompt deep introspection and notions of selfdiscovery in LiGHT attendees.

LiGHT also showcased more than 150 choice brands this year, all offering something bold and new to the lighting specification industry.

For more news from the event, visit lightexpo.london

Mix Awards North 2024

With a riotously wintry Aspen theme, we welcomed the best and brightest of the commercial interiors industry back for an unforgettable night at Manchester Central on 28th November – the venue transformed into an après ski sensation.

As always, there was a showstopping bill of entertainment, including worldclass aerial artists, motorcycle stunts and back-by-populardemand fairground rides. Soundtracked by non-stop dance tracks from electronic duo Utah Saints, guests danced until the early hours in celebration of another year of exceptional design across the north of the UK and Ireland.

Our panel of thirteen expert judges sifted through a record number of entries this year, with particular attention given to four principal areas: sustainability, functionality, innovation and overall visual appeal. After much deliberation, the judges selected a winner from each of our 20 categories – including the newly introduced Marcie Incarico Emerging Talent Award, dedicated to the late industry stalwart who, like us, sought to champion those shaping the design landscape of tomorrow.

For full event photography visit mixinteriors.com

Design Practice of the Year Manufacturer of the Year

Sponsored by Impact Acoustic

Sponsored by Bluestone Leasing

Winner Winner

tp bennett Amtico

tp bennett is a dynamic design practice that pushes boundaries and is devoted to finding creative solutions. Unconfined by a single house style, the practice’s solutions are innovative, adapting to deliver suitable results for each project. Celebrating 10 years since establishing its Manchester studio, tp bennett’s design process integrates multiple voices and viewpoints to develop solutions that address modern-day challenges. Valuing their unique opportunity to impact the built environment, the tp bennett team are committed to providing a service that recognises its responsibilities in relation to health, wellbeing and sustainability.

What the judges said

“Working globally while celebrating 10 years in Manchester – committed to moral, social, health, safety and environmental responsibilities. Well done!”

With a proud British heritage, Amtico began designing and manufacturing luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) in 1964 – and today remains the only LVT company that manufactures from scratch in the UK. As the company celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2024, it is a market-leading manufacturer from its home in Coventry, thanks to its continuous innovation, product evolution and dedication to sustainability. A global business but a proud UK manufacturer, Amtico’s national sales revenue increased in 2023, compared to the previous year, achieving 11% growth across commercial markets.

What the judges said

“Impressive consideration to environmental and social impact – a market leader for a reason.”

Finalists Finalists

BDP

Bruntwood

SciTech

Claremont

ID:SR Sheppard

Robson

Incognito JOLIE MLA

Studio Two tp bennett

Amtico

Autex Acoustics

Balsan

Bolon

Camira Fabrics

Ege Carpets

EGGER

Impact Acoustic

JDD Furniture

Pedrali

Specialist Group

Tarkett

The Senator Group

Bathroom

VitrA

Recycled Ceramic Washbasin

Winner VitrA has introduced the world's first Recycled Ceramic Washbasin, made from 100% recycled materials. This innovation repurposes waste materials from VitrA’s production process, transforming them into durable, high-quality bathroom basins. The washbasin meets industry standards for durability, deformation and strength, without compromising on quality or design. Adopting circular manufacturing principles, VitrA has significantly reduced its environmental impact with the product’s launch, with a calculated 30% reduction in fossil fuel usage per product. Available in five minimalist colorways, the basin merges style with sustainability, its subtle design complementing most interior environments.

What the judges said

“The team have managed to create a product so aesthetically stunning that the design alone makes you stop and stare – when you combine this with the fact they have managed to create an entirely new sustainable material, it’s even more impressive.”

Finalists

BAGNODESIGN – Nara

Crosswater - Module MPRO Push 2

Johnson Tiles – Arizona

Kaldewei – e15 design accessories

Neolith – Atmosphere Range

RAK Ceramics – RAK Valet

Rehau – Rauvisio Noir

VitrA – Recycled Ceramic Washbasin

Woodio – Block Wall-Hung Toilet

Flooring

Sponsored by Gresham

Forbo Flooring Systems

Marmoleum Solid

Winner Building on the success of Forbo’s climate positive Marmoleum flooring, the updated Marmoleum Solid collection comes in a refreshed colour palette of organic, muted tones for contemporary interiors that connect with nature. Marmoleum Solid demonstrates linoleum’s capabilities as a modern-day floor finish, which fits with industry trends and sustainable building requirements. Made using up to 98% natural raw materials, Marmoleum forms the foundation of healthy indoor spaces, helping those in the design world to create sustainable places that have a positive impact on people and the planet.

What the judges said

“An impressive jump forward for the business – considering not only environmental impact of an existing market product but thinking about training the next generation.”

Finalists

Amtico – Form Collection

Balsan – Brush Collection

Bjelin – Contrast Collection

BOLON – Graphic Collection

Ege Carpets – SHE by Laura Bilde and Linnea Blæh

Forbo Flooring Systems – Marmoleum Solid

Interface – Past Forward

Karndean Designflooring – Art Select

Karta – Recycled Leather Series

Milliken – Painted Garden

Tarkett – DESSO Grezzo Bloom and Vivid

Ted Todd – Residence Collection

Furniture

Winner

Isomi

Tejo

Sustainably made with cork waste from the production of wine stoppers, Tejo is Isomi’s new recyclable modular sofa system designed by Paul Crofts. Offering elegance, comfort and versatility, Isomi’s production of Tejo helps to preserve Portugal’s cork forests, marking a major step towards the circular economy. The sofa system includes a plethora of optional elements that enhance its function, including table units, planters, privacy screen dividers and USB charging, making the system as suited to workspaces as it is for waiting areas and lounges. And, because Tejo is designed for disassembly, part-replacement and recycling, it can adapt as a business’ needs change.

What the judges said

“Commended for their commitment to the overarching ambition and narrative to make use and nurture a natural resource whilst producing functional and aesthetically pleasing furniture.”

Finalists

Abstracta – Acunok

Allermuir – Crate Curved

Dare Studio – Clyde

Glimakra of Sweden – Ablis

Humanscale – Float Mini

Isomi – Tejo

JDD Furniture – Bob Rooms

Normann Copenhagen – Bit Collection

sixteen3 – Betto

TreCe – KLOSS Mini

Lighting

Winner

Lumenpulse

Opticolor+

The design ethos behind Lumencore Recessed Opticolor+ by Lumenpulse is rooted in versatility, precision and sustainability. Crafted to meet diverse lighting needs through its three-in-one functionality, this luminaire offers Premium Static White, Dynamic White with Dim-to-Warm as well as Dynamic RGBW Colours. At the heart of its design is Opticolor+ technology, which ensures precise and efficient light distribution, enhancing both optical comfort and aesthetic appeal. The high Colour Rendering Index (CRI) of up to 95+ guarantees accurate colour representation, making spaces look natural and feel vibrant.

What the judges said

“Using technology to create a wow factor and impressive functionality while also seriously considering its environmental impact.”

Finalists

Abstracta – Vika

Flos – Workmates

Formagenda – Mirror Suspension

Impact Acoustic – Oloïd

Intra Lighting – Pyramyd

Lumenpulse – Opticolor+

Luxxbox – Kurtain

Muuto – Dedicate Lamp

Platek – Astral Trellis

Tala – Mantle

Seating

Winner

Arper

Catifa Carta

Arper has collaborated with PaperShell to create Catifa Carta, a reinterpretation of its original Catifa 53. Designed in collaboration with Swedish startup PaperShell, the product represents a new era of sustainable design practices. The seat is crafted from PaperShell’s revolutionary, namesake material, which transforms discarded offcuts of deceased trees into durable craft paper.

Harnessing the carbon dioxide the tree retains, the process contributes to a more environmentally conscious production cycle, resulting in zero environmental impact. Carta Catifa has the potential to achieve climate-positive status at the end of its lifecycle.

What the judges said

“Astonished – this is true innovation and circularity at its heart through collaboration. I wouldn’t be surprised if this sparked a shift in industry and manufacturing of the future.”

Finalists

Allermuir – Yõso

Arper – Catifa Carta

Brunner – ray work

Gresham – Kulture Rox

Humanscale – Trea Family

JDD Furniture – Terry Collection

Modus – Maluma

Muuto – Doze Lounge Chair

Normann Copenhagen – Mat Chair

Pedrali – Philía

Senator – Contour

Narbutas – D-Chair

sixteen3 – Piper

Product of the Year

Surfaces

Winner

Solus

Spolia

Made in Manchester by the last surviving British manufacturer of terrazzo at commercial scale, Spolia by Solus is produced with a low-carbon cement by a factory powered by 100% renewable energy. In addition to a selection of 21 standard colours, Solus’ bespoke service allows designers to use demolition waste as aggregate, meaning a refurbishment can include elements of the old building in the new. Brick, glass, metal and even some hard plastics can be included in the terrazzo tile which fortifies a narrative of reuse.

What the judges said

“The perfect marriage of sustainability and design, with a heritage backstory made in the post-industrial North of England. Using a traditional material to solve the problem of demolition waste – and making a feature of this. Imparting the new material with a story and history of its own... I love it!”

Finalists

AllSfär – BreezeCurve Acoustic Ceiling Baffles

Architile – Gold Hex Mosaic

CDUK – Corian Solid Surface, Geologic Collection

Cosentino – Silestone XM

EGGER – PerfectSense Lacquered Woodgrains

Gabriel A/S – LOOP

Impact Acoustic – Archisonic Cotton

Parkside Architectural Tiles – Alusid Mas

RAK Ceramics – Fantastic Green

Re.Wrap – Re.Wrap

Solus – Spolia

Vescom – Purefin

Woven Image – 3D Formed Panel

Technology & Accessories

Winner

Ojmar

OTS Batteryless

OTS Batteryless by OJMAR is the first battery-free smart locker lock on the market that networks online and offers instantaneous data insights. Powered by the patented "Push Power" technology, the OTS Batteryless smart lock harnesses the energy from a simple push of the nozzle, ensuring smooth and reliable operation without the need for batteries or wires. This unique feature guarantees limitless autonomy, while significantly reducing waste and contributing to an eco-friendly environment. In addition, the self-powered locking mechanism is connected to the cloud, offering real time analytics such as lock status, events log and usage reports. It’s also the first product of its kind to be operated via smartphone and RFID bracelets.

What the judges said

“Impressive product design combined with a functionality that addresses security, aesthetics and sustainability in a strong conceptual and beautifully rational design move. A truly well thought out and elegant design solution.”

Finalists

CMD – Caplet

Fellowes – Rising Loft

HAT Collective – E5 Monitor Arm

Humanscale – M/3 Connect Pro Dock

Ojmar – OTS Batteryless

Bar & Leisure Interiors

Winner

B3 Designers

Lita, Marylebone

Lita, short for “abuelita,” meaning grandmother in Spanish, is a Southern European restaurant in a warm, rustic setting designed by B3 Designers. Inspired by French and Spanish countryside houses, the space combines antique and contemporary elements, including reclaimed terracotta floors, exposed wooden joists and blood-orange mohair banquettes, as well as bespoke elements such as the walk-in wine cellar with custom joinery. Another standout feature is the open fire grill that connects guests to the cooking process, along with the choice of three open counters, a timber-clad bar with red travertine top or a private dining room with a custom-made vitrine and floral wallpaper.

What the judges said

“A timeless and welcoming space.”

Finalists

B3 Designers – Lita, Marylebone

Belenko Design – Mamaliga, Ukraine

Blacksheep – Skof, Manchester

CDS Wilman – Baker’s Room, Milton Keynes

Faber and Company – Finch, London

Gensler – TOCA Social @ Bullring, Birmingham

JOLIE – The Nest, Frankfurt

JSA Design – Cambridge St. Collective, Sheffield

SpaceInvader – Blok at Lanelay Hall, South Wales

Studio Two – Sole Club, Glasgow

Tibbatts Abel – Niju, London

Living Interiors

Jestico + Whiles

W Edinburgh

Winner W Edinburgh is a 244-key lifestyle hotel located within the vibrant St James Quarter development in central Edinburgh, led by Nuveen Real Estate and designed by Jestico + Whiles. Operated by Marriott under the W brand, the hotel adheres to a comprehensive W Design Guide, ensuring a luxury experience that embodies Edinburgh’s reputation as a premier festival city. The hotel comprises three interconnected structures: Block C, the iconic Ribbon Building; Block D known as Quarter House; and James Craig Walk. Together, these buildings enclose St James Square, a new public space designed for various events. W Edinburgh features upscale accommodations, including the signature WOW and EWOW suites, tailored for both events and traditional hotel services.

What the judges said

“A true celebration of the city’s culture and passion –surprises and intrigue around every corner.”

Finalists

Chapman Taylor – Hotel Indigo, Coventry

Concorde BGW – The Pier House, Cornwall

HLM Architects – Radisson Blu, Sheffield

Ica Studio – The Reach at Piccadilly, Manchester

Jestico + Whiles – W Edinburgh

Koncept ID – Malmaison Deansgate, Manchester

Lamington Group – room2 hometel, Belfast

O’Donnell O’Neill Design – The Leinster Hotel, Edinburgh

Sponsored by Johnson Tiles

Winner

Lister

+ Lister

New Acres, Wandsworth

Designed by Lister + Lister, New Acres is a Build to Rent development in Wandsworth, southwest London that sits on a former B&Q superstore site. The large warehouse-style store was replaced with 13 new housing blocks containing 554 new homes and more than 8,000 sq m of business, retail and restaurant space. All apartments have access to private outdoor amenity space including balconies, winter gardens or a terrace, as well as an outdoor playground for young families. Built across three podiums, the central block contains generous resident amenities including a health and wellbeing centre which is focused around a 25 m heated lido.

What the judges said

“This is a lovely piece of design – the amenities provided are exceptional for the changing world we are living in and respond perfectly to the anticipated London demographic. Young professionals can suffer with loneliness and this helps to establish and open up a community.”

Finalists

74 – Leonardo, Leeds

93ft – Kangaroo Works, Sheffield

Ekho Studio – Enso, Colchester

Jasper Sanders + Partners – Potterrow, Edinburgh

Lister + Lister – Bale Anchor, Lewisham

Lister + Lister – New Acres, Wandsworth

SODA Studio – Roco, Liverpool

TEN – Broad Street, Birmingham

Project of the Year

Positive Impact

Sponsored by Egger

SpaceInvader

Eden New Bailey, Manchester

Winner Eden, New Bailey, is an office building in Salford, standing as one of the UK's most sustainable office developments. Completed by The English Cities Fund (ECF), a partnership between Muse Developments, Legal & General and Homes England, this 115,000 sq ft building showcases cutting-edge environmental design. SpaceInvader was selected to design the amenity spaces, bringing to life a new social hub that aligns with the building’s eco-friendly ethos. Embracing reclaimed materials and low VOC finishes, the design includes coworking areas, a wellness studio and spaces for events and retail opportunities.

What the judges said

“Working in harmony with one of the UK’s most sustainable developments and opening up a space for the wider community to benefit from.”

Finalists

BDP – Foundation, Altrincham

FaulknerBrowns Architects – Nottingham Central Library

shedkm – Lighthouse Church, Merseyside

SpaceInvader – Eden New Bailey, Manchester

tp bennett – 12 Wellington Place, Business Lounge, Leeds

& Cultural Interiors

Sponsored by Interface Public Sector

MLA and Contagious

Rosebank Distillery, Falkirk

Winner Established in 1840, Rosebank was known as the ‘King of the Lowlands’ for its high-quality triple-distilled whisky until it closed in 1993 and fell into disrepair. Ian MacLeod Distillers acquired the site in 2017 and enlisted MLA and Contagious to revive the distillery. Developing the concept through in-depth workshops and community engagement, the design team retained as many listed warehouse buildings as possible, incorporating a full height glass facade to display three pot stills and invite the local community into the whisky-making process. Opening to the public in June 2024, Rosebank expects to welcome up to 50,000 visitors per year, creating new jobs within the distilling, retail and tourism industries.

What the judges said

“Wow! What a beautiful and sympathetic transformation and clearly a labour of love. Sustainable and kind –celebrating its product and history. Just beautiful!”

Finalists

BDP – Neilston Learning Campus, East Renfrewshire

BDP – University of Coventry

FaulknerBrowns Architects – Nottingham Central Library

MLA and Contagious – Rosebank Distillery, Falkirk

Overbury – Lancaster University, ISS Building & Data Labs

Ryder Interiors – Newcastle International Airport

shedkm – Lighthouse Church, Wirral

Workplace Interiors under 5,000 sq ft

Sponsored by Archi.tile

Winner

’kin

5 St Pauls Square, Liverpool

The repositioning of 5 St Paul’s as a tenant focused workplace was at the heart of redeveloping this well-known Liverpool building. The introduction of new client focused spaces, end of journey facilities, a reception meeting space, roof terrace and well-being area all add into the work life balance concept created by ‘kin, keeping employee satisfaction at the heart of the concept. Rich velvet textiles and timbers feature from the small working enclaves to the wider, more open social spaces, contrasting the glass and steel of the architecture.

What the judges said

“A bold and beautiful space that stays true to the original concept and truly repositions the building experience.”

Finalists

’kin – 5 St Pauls Square, Liverpool

Blokka – Counter Context, Sheffield

Incognito – Solus Studio, Manchester

OP – OP Birmingham HQ

SCENE – 1 King Street, Manchester

The Interior Design Practice – DJH Lakeview, Stoke-on-Trent

tp bennett – 12 Wellington Place Business Lounge, Leeds

Workplace Interiors

5,000 – 15,000 sq ft

Sponsored by Balsan

tp bennett

Canonical, London

Winner Canonical, a global software company, requested a London briefing centre that embodies its global culture of craftsmanship and innovation. tp bennett combined traditional Japanese carpentry and craft with a palette of British, European and American materials and art to reflect the company’s collegial diversity, creating a distinctive and contemplative atmosphere. The venue serves as a meeting hub for colleagues, a broadcast centre for company events and an executive briefing centre.

What the judges said

“A complex project with a fantastic outcome – a great example of tech and craftsmanship coming together to create something really special.”

Finalists

AXI – 101 Embankment, Manchester

CBRE Design Collective – XPS Group, Manchester

Corstorphine & Wright – Unusual HQ, Northamptonshire

Ekho Studio – AstraZeneca UK, London

Hermantes Studio – MUFG, Liverpool

Incognito – Henry Boot HQ, Sheffield

JOLIE – 60 Fountain Street, Manchester

Overbury – Avalanche Studios Group, St Paul’s Square, Liverpool

Sheila Bird Studio – Hurst Accountants HQ, Stockport

SpaceInvader – SPORTFIVE, Manchester

tp bennett – Canonical, London

TSK x St James’ Place, Manchester

Workplace Interiors

15,000 – 30,000 sq ft

Sponsored by Gerflor

MOLA

Workplace Interiors

30,000 – 70,000 sq ft

Sponsored by Pedrali

Architecture and T&I Fitouts

Pinterest EMEA HQ, Dublin Winner

Located on 60 Dawson Street overlooking Trinity College, the new Pinterest EMEA Headquarters is a 2,500 sq m fitout designed by MOLA Architecture in collaboration with T&I Fitouts LTD.

The design story is a journey through the landscape, culture and mythology of Ireland. It begins in the urban zone of Reception and continues through Dublin’s Botanical Gardens and neighbouring Trinity College, then onwards through a myriad of Irish landscapes, which are brought to life with carefully chosen finishes, textures and bespoke design elements.

What the judges said

“Engaging and imaginative design narrative with a real range of spaces delivered with distinctive character. I love the overall quality, craft and imagination this scheme has delivered on.”

Finalists

Chapman Taylor – One Arlington Square, Bracknell

Claremont – Yorkshire Building Society HQ, Bradford

K2 – Criteo Global Transformation Project, New York

MOLA Architecture and T&I Fitouts – Pinterest

EMEA HQ, Dublin

Gensler

Etsy, Dublin

Winner Designed by Gensler, Etsy's 17,500 sq ft European hub integrates local Irish culture into a flexible and collaborative workspace, at the same time embodying the brand’s core values of community, craftsmanship and sustainability. By partnering with local artisans, the office features custom-made furniture, handcrafted installations and culturally inspired artwork that reflects Etsy's mission to ‘keep commerce human’. The adaptable design supports hybrid working with a mix of quiet zones, vibrant communal spaces, and biophilic elements that enhance employee well-being. Through locally sourced materials, the project significantly reduces environmental impact while supporting the local economy.

What the judges said

“A unique space using artists and local craftspeople for furniture and finishes, a focus on daylight and biophilia, and a mix of spaces supporting neurodivergent needs.”

Finalists

Bridge Architects – Forty Princess Street, Manchester

Chameleon Business Interiors – McCain Foods

USA HQ, Chicago

Gensler – Etsy, Dublin

ID:SR – Eversheds Sutherland, Cardiff

MLA – OVO Energy, Glasgow

SpaceInvader – Arden Square, Radius Global Telematics HQ, Crewe

TSK Group – Oliver Wyman, London

Workplace Interiors over 70,000 sq ft

Sponsored by JDD

Winner

5plus Architects

Five St Philips, Birmingham

Five St Philips is an existing building located at the heart of Birmingham’s Central Business District, at the corner of Colmore Row and St Philips Place. The building is situated within the Colmore Row and Environs Conservation area, adjacent to the Grade I Listed Birmingham Cathedral and fronting Birmingham’s prestigious Cathedral Square. This comprehensive refurbishment and alteration were considered within the context of this sensitive setting and has delivered 65,200 sq ft of Grade A commercial workspace across eight storeys with a spectacular new 1,800 sq ft double height reception space. A reconfigured core delivers an additional lift, all new lift cars and interiors, a new washroom and fully glazed office entrances, all with views of Birmingham Cathedral.

What the judges said

“I really love the detailing in the timber and joinery. The simplicity in palette makes for an elegant and sophisticated scheme.”

“A refined, cultured and confident design concept that has been really well delivered. Pared back spaces and the use of a very limited material and colour palette really puts an emphasis on detail and craft with clever nods to the local urban context.”

Finalists

5plus Architects – Five St Philips, Birmingham Claremont – AQA Manchester HQ

IA Interior Architects – Confidential Tech Client, Iaşi, Romania

K2 – Criteo Global Transformation Project, Paris Oktra – Double Eleven, Middlesbrough

The Marcie Incarico Emerging Talent Award

Sponsored by Allermuir

Winner

Georgia Ingleton

Senior Designer, Sheila Bird Studio

In partnership with Allermuir, Mix Awards North 2024 sees the first iteration of The Marcie Incarico Emerging Talent Award. In commemoration of our late Managing Director, Incarico recognised the importance of shining a light on up-and-coming designers as an integral step in securing the future of design. New for 2024, our inaugural cohort of finalists represent a full spectrum of design prowess, proving integral to projects spanning workplace, public, living and hospitality. Carefully selected from a host of promising entries, these next generation designers are making strides in their respective fields, thanks to their unique perspectives and innovative approaches.

Since joining Sheila Bird Studio, Ingleton has championed design quality, sustainability and human-centred design. Her distinctive style avoids industry clichés, making her work relatable and original – thriving under pressure and developing challenging, landmark projects including the Mix Award-winning New Century. Her proactive attitude, charisma and rapport with clients and peers have cemented her as a key member within Manchester’s vibrant design community.

Finalists

Georgia Ingleton, Senior Designer, Sheila Bird Studio

Rebecca Godden, Interior Designer, Corstorphine & Wright

Paulina Naruseviciute, Project Architect, BDP

Lucy Atwood, Interior Designer, AXI

Andrew Murray, Interior Designer, 74

Lessons learnt: building a space where narratives flourish

Creativity has always been at the heart of my work. Throughout my career, I’ve been dedicated to bringing creativity into businesses and championing fair pay for this vital, inspirational skill. As my business, Artiq, celebrates its 15th birthday this month, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned about fostering an environment where creativity can truly thrive.

Creativity doesn’t happen in isolation – it grows through connection, collaboration and the interplay of diverse perspectives. At its core, creativity is about storytelling: building and weaving narratives shaped by the varied voices of a team. For those stories to flourish, we need an environment that fosters openness, trust and inspiration.

At the foundation of such an environment is psychological safety – the feeling that everyone can share their thoughts, ideas or even doubts without fear of judgment. This isn’t just about encouraging bold ideas; it’s about creating a culture where people feel safe enough to contribute, even if their thoughts are unpolished or unconventional.

Often, a brilliant idea can be hidden inside a halfformed thought, and it’s through discussion and trust that these fragments come together. When people feel secure, they’re more willing to take risks and collaborate, and it’s this openness that allows richer, more complex narratives to emerge.

But safety alone isn’t enough. Creativity also requires lightness and humour – a sense of joy that invites people to play with ideas. Laughter connects people, defuses tension and builds trust. It creates a positive space where failure isn’t feared but embraced as part of the creative process. Failure is often seen as the end of a story, but I’ve come to view it as an opportunity to reflect and learn. Adopting a ‘fail fast’ mentality allow teams to adapt and grow quickly, keeping the creative energy alive.

Equally important is the chance to explore beyond the everyday. Creativity thrives on fresh input, and some of our best ideas have come from moments spent outside the workplace. Do we really have our best ideas sitting a desk?

Visiting galleries, exhibitions, live music, concerts or inviting external creatives to present and share their practices, can truly ignite the creative spark. Sharing reminds us that creativity isn’t siloed; it’s the result of many voices coming together.

And then there’s the physical space. A creative environment should reflect its purpose. Surrounding ourselves with visible creativity – art on the walls, sketches and work-inprogress or the intangible energy of others collaborating – keeps us connected to the act of making. It’s a daily reminder of what we’re here to do and why it matters.

Fifteen years on, I’ve learnt that leading a creative team isn’t about imposing ideas but about creating the conditions where ideas can take root and flourish. It’s about listening, learning and building a space where everyone’s voice contributes to a shared story. Because when people feel safe, supported and inspired, they don’t just create, they come together to craft stories that are meaningful, impactful, beautiful and unforgettable.

Patrick McCrae is the co-founder and CEO of Artiq, a London-based art agency that puts art to work in settings outside of the gallery; from workplaces to hospitality.

Gentrification: good or evil?

We explore the tension between revitalisation and displacement, asking if change always positively serves local communities.

Words: Dominic Lutyens

The word ‘gentrification’ is sometimes considered to be a derogatory term. It often begins with the colonisation of a hitherto run-down urban district by creatives unconcerned about its deteriorating condition and drawn to low rents. They render its housing habitable, preserve its historical character and create a vibrant neighbourhood that others soon find charmingly boho. Profit-chasing developers then redevelop its real estate into homes and retail outlets affordable to all but its wealthiest occupants.

Of course, a distaste for gentrification can be driven by inverted snobbery. It’s easy to romanticise a down-at-heel neighbourhood boasting hip, independent shops and cafés. And why knock an aspirational craving for new, if frequently sterile boutiques and apartment blocks? Yet the term gentrification was coined by sociologist Ruth Glass, who argued that such embourgeoisement has a downside, forcing out lower-income residents. It first appeared in her introduction to the 1964 book, London: Aspects of Change: “Once… ‘gentrification’ starts in a district it goes

on rapidly until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed.” The book cited Islington and Notting Hill in London as two areas invaded by affluent bohemian couples with the means to refurbish them.

Some historians trace gentrification back to 3rd century AD ancient Rome and Roman Britain when small shops were supplanted by large villas, so arguably it’s an inevitable aspect of urban life.

“As an architect I appreciate cities evolve – they expand and contract,” says Pedro Gil of East London practice Studio Gil. “But my problem is erasure, when gentrification erases buildings and marginalised people. This has happened in Elephant & Castle in London where its Latin American community set up hairdressers, informal creative hubs and bakeries in railway arches that were cheap to rent. These proved commercially viable, then developers circled round. When this pattern occurs, sometimes local authorities are complicit by refusing to renew businesses’ leases.”

For architect Joanna Yarrow of practice

Human Nature in Lewes, East Sussex, “It’s important to distinguish between regeneration – revitalisation of a place – and the demographic, economic shift that gentrification describes, which usually displaces existing communities.”

One Human Nature project, Phoenix, on the site of a former ironworks on the edge of Lewes, scheduled for completion in 2030, proposes an alternative approach. “We believe in genuinely mixed neighbourhoods – mixes of income, ages and uses – that expand social networks and foster wellbeing,” says Yarrow.

Inspired by Lewes’s historic streetscapes and courtyard housing designed by Jan Gehl in Copenhagen, Phoenix will offer affordable homes powered by renewable energy and communal facilities – from courtyards, gardens, laundries and a nursery to a shuttle bus, electric cars and bikes. Like the model of the 15-minute city, designed to reduce car dependency, most amenities are reachable within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.

Some believe regeneration projects should cause minimal disruption to people’s lives. The 1950s Joyce & Snell’s estate, whose masterplan was overseen by architects HTA Design and Enfield Council, is a case in point. The scheme will see the demolition of the old estate and creation of 2,000 new homes, including a 19-unit housing block, designed by Studio Gil. Existing residents will live in their homes until their new ones are ready to move into. Studio Gil’s housing is designed to nurture a sense of community with its welcoming front doors and front gardens, and address concerns for security: its kitchen windows overlook outdoor play areas, so adults can easily supervise children.

Another architect Jerry Tate, of practice Tate & Co, which deploys a “regenerative design approach”, attributes great importance to green spaces. An example of this is its temporary project in Birmingham, called Blossom, co-designed with Studio8Fold in 2022 for the National Trust as part of the Birmingham Festival and Commonwealth Games. “In a hard-

landscaped environment with no seating, we displayed planters with blossoming apple, cherry and plum trees and added benches where people could relax,” says Tate. “A previously under-used space became occupied by all the city’s communities and felt super-inclusive.”

The planters were later distributed to local schools for projects such as growing vegetables and the trees were replanted along one of the city’s main bus routes.

“Gentrification ebbs and flows in some neighbourhoods, often determined by economic or other circumstances. It’s not unstoppable,” Tate adds optimistically.

“Since the pandemic, there’s been a super-interesting opposite trend: an oversupply of offices in Central London is seeing them occupied in a more democratic way, for example as artists’ studios.” With a growing number of regeneration projects in the UK promising and sometimes providing improved amenities in an inclusive way, we can only hope this trend is on the rise.

Image on previous page: Blossom by Tate+Co & studio 8FOLD, photography Kilian O’Sullivan

Above left: Phoenix project, Lewes, via Ash Sakula Architects

Above right: Joyce and Snell Enfield regeneration, image via Studio Gil

The new podcast in which we explore how the inner worlds of designers, architects and creatives shape the world around us.

Listen and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and watch in video at mixinteriors.com/podcasts.

Constantina Tsoutsikou, Studio Lost

Material Matters

Constantina Tsoutsikou is creative director and founder of Studio LOST, an award-winning design practice and collective of creative thinkers known for its landmark hospitality projects, art direction and product design.

studiolost.co.uk

@studiolost.london

Rope

This traditional Japanese burnt wood looks very dramatic and the process to produce it is quite complex. I admire the properties it gains when left out in the elements, gradually changing colour. There is an element of timelessness that makes Yakisugi so alluring.

There is something in the tactile nature of rope that feels inviting to touch – a maritime connotation, the idea of being at sea and a sense of adventure. I like using rope as a way to add another materiality layer onto furniture; we recently used Manila rope to create custom mirrors for a luxury hotel in Crete.

Cast glass has an allure of times past, speaks of craftsmanship and adds a sense of glamour. You can find it in vintage lighting or artefacts like Lalique, but it is a rare and forgotten art. I am looking for an excuse to use it in an upcoming project; I find how the light diffuses mesmerising and ethereal.

In hospitality design there is a chance to add a sense of place with materials or techniques indigeous to the locaility. On the island of Rhodes, pebble flooring has been used for centuries. We are currently using pebbles to create a beautiful floor pattern at a project. Placing one pebble at a time, it requires planning ahead to allow the craftsmen time to bring the design to life.

Yakisugi

Cast Glass

Sea Pebbles

Dutch studio

Why Knot Design turns an invasive species into a plentiful resource, creating a versatile biomaterial from Japanese knotweed.

Why knot?

Known for its aggressive nature, Japanese knotweed grows so invasively that it can pose a threat to local ecosystems, biodiversity and even to urban infrastructure – currently displacing native plant species and causing significant damage to pipes, roads and buildings throughout the Netherlands. Embarking on a mission to transform “a hated plant into a loved product”, local material innovator Why Knot Design has developed a method of turning this rapidly spreading plant species into a durable, bio-based material with a host of interior applications, from office furniture to wall panels.

Designed to contribute towards a truly circular economy, Why Knot’s sheet material is made from residual sources of knotweed that would otherwise be burned, retaining the rich amount of carbon dioxide captured by the plant during its growth cycle. As the material is free from chemicals such as formaldehyde, it can be easily repurposed into new products or returned to the earth to naturally decompose at the end of its life cycle. The studio’s first design was the durable, scratch-resistant JKD Table, developed alongside The Green Village, a sustainable initiative at the Delft

University of Technology. Then, a modular bottle crate designed in collaboration with EROI, a Japanese energy drink also made with knotweed. Consisting of six flat panels that allow the crate to be collapsed and neatly stored away, the container can be buried in the ground and broken down by enzymes in the earth – not only leaving no harmful substances behind, but also breaking the invasive cycle, as no new weed can grow in its place.

Why Knot Design has additionally created a materials library as part of the Hollandse Delta Water Board’s Living Tree, sharing the benefits of this often-maligned resource to both the public and potential partners. As knotweed’s strong fibres allow it to grow quickly and uninhibited, the studio is conducting research into the plant’s potential in the textile industry, using strains provided by Rotterdam Zoo. Why Knot Design was also part of Biobased Creations' Nature Building Project, a collaborative exhibition recently featured at Dutch Design Week and Salone del Mobile that built a sustainable, miniature house of the future.

whyknot.nl

Boiling a frog: jump or perish

The post-COVID shake-up has really made companies wonder about a new ‘workplace normal’. Will such a thing materialise and, if so, when? Some brave organisations have staked out positions at either end of a spectrum that spans from ‘everyone back to the office’ at one extreme, to ‘the office is dead’ at the other, but the majority in the middle are more circumspect, uncertain and looking for answers.

This uncertainty is a case study about industry disruption and the time it takes for dust to settle after an unanticipated event. Like victims of a storm, organisations are torn between rebuilding what they once knew, or risking a fresh start. It feels like many favour the latter option, believing that going back to the old ways would be riskier than the unknown future.

Our workplace sector is vocal about innovation – it fancies being light on its feet and designing for rapid adaptation. But too often this is more of a talking point than a burning necessity. We no longer have that luxury.

So the point is urgency. Slow gradual movement never feels like a revelation, but a sudden shift in circumstances makes people sit up and think. The frog boiling myth suggests that the creature sitting in slowly heating water will not notice the threat and will meet its end rather than leap to safety. But a frog tipped into hot water is not so complacent.

For us the new business challenges – hybrid working, climate change and ever more demanding employee expectations – all require a rapid rethink. Compared to recent events the past decades were an era of glacial incremental change.

In order to seize this moment to re-examine the purpose of the workplace, we will need fresh evidence and insight. We will need to put old design guidelines to one side and recalibrate the formulae for space provision. Such a fundamental review of the working environment would once have taken a lifetime but now we have technology tools to speed us down the road from raw data to useful outcomes: artificial intelligence, the

internet of things and cloud computing. These give us the analytical horsepower to deliver innovative solutions to new challenges.

But the design industry must make some big structural changes to prepare for these technologies. First, new skills are needed – like analysts, solution engineers and data scientists. Second, investment will be required in a digital infrastructure – such as a digital twin and space in the cloud to store data. Third, a new business model must be developed that provides continuous engagement - a service model, no longer simply delivering projects that have a defined completion date.

Once we have climbed onto this train we can turbo-charge our previous experience and design intuition with insight from a real scientific approach. Space calculations and configurations will benefit for the first time from solid data analysis, unsullied by irrelevant rules of thumb.

Plunged into the post-COVID hot water means we must jump or perish. The frog jumps.

Steve Gale is head of strategy at M Moser Associates

mmoser.com

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Caplet

A neat and vibrant on-desk power module with a UK socket and a dual port USB Type C adaptive fast charger, with a maximum 65W, for charging high powered laptops, tablets and smart phones.

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